Dreams with Wolves
by SmiggleWiggy
Summary: Finally the time has come to bring the fight to the Daedric Prince Hircine and his wolf followers. Cry Silverworthy has been standing beside Kodlak Whitemane is this battle, but how long will she stand beside him when the lives of her Companions are threatened by the Daedric Prince himself? (I Dun't Own Elder Scrolls V)
1. Chapter 1

**I'M BA-AA-ACK! **

**Did ya miss me?**

**HEEHEE.**

**Ahem, sorry. **

**Anyway, I have returned from my vacation of sorts! YEAH. YEAH.**

**So, yes, here I am. With a new story! A chaptered story! Whoo-hoo!**

**Hope ya enjoy the first chapter!**

* * *

The howling all around her practically ruptured Cry's eardrums as she ran through the red tinted forest, dodging trees and brush as best as she could while keeping her great sword in front of her, prepared for anything.

She was met by that anything when she paused briefly as the howling abruptly stopped. She gazes around her, peering into the trees for the threat she knew was lurking within the blood stained forest.

Suddenly, a black shape jumped from the tress and knocked her to the ground, saliva dripping from its jowls as the wolf snarled down at her.

Cry growled back and kicked her legs out with as much force as she could, flinging the beast off of her into the bushes nearby. It reappeared almost at once and leaped out once more. The Companion rolled out of the way just in time, the wolf landing in the undergrowth where she had just been lying.

Cry scrambled to her feet and stood, panting, sword held out in front of her. The wolf spun to face her, gray eyes glinting as the two circled one another. Its teeth were bared in a silent snarl, daring her to try something.

However, at a second glance at the wolf's eyes, Cry had stiffened, and a laugh reached her ears as the wolf suddenly stood on its hind legs and began to morph before her eyes, turning into the familiar stag-skull masked form of the Daedric prince Hircine, his bare arms crossed over his bare chest, his stag-like dappled legs spread a few inches apart, clearly showing that he believed he was dominate. The emotionless eyes of the prince gazed at her from behind his mask as he spoke. "I didn't expect to see you back here so soon after our last meeting."

Cry gazed straight ahead, facial expression flat as he circled her. "The pain only exists here."

The Daedra chuckled quietly at this as he moved around to the front of her, his form now that of a young buck. "Do you think I don't know that? How else would I get you back here to fight me again?" he muses.

Cry merely blinks, no emotion showing through as he changed into the form of a sabre cat, long fangs hanging over his jaw as he came towards her, the same soulless, gray eyes fixated on the Harbinger before him, willing her expression to change. It didn't however, and Hircine snorted as he stalked away. "You were such a beautiful wolf, Cry. Why would you give it up?"

"I don't worship Daedra," is her simple response, and Hircine chuckles once again, converting back to his masked human shape. He approached her again and allows a hand to stroke the Companion's cheek.

It took all of Cry's willpower not to flinch at the prince's touch, but she pushed herself to maintain her poker face. "Then who do you worship, _dragon_?" The last word leaves the Daedra as a snarl, and his hand withdrew as he walked away, the wolf form returning. "Shor? Ysgramor? Or, perhaps, you aren't religious."

"That is no concern of yours," she states, and the wolf rounds on her, shaping swiftly into a dragon, his large head and two rows of sharp teeth extremely close to her face.

"It _is_ my concern, love. You were once my child, as were most of whom are fighting against me."

The dragon sighs and backs away to morph once more into a deer. He trots around her briefly, appearing before her as the masked man once again. "Damn Kodlak Whitemane for turning so many of my own against me."

"He was only doing what was right," she answers, and the soulless gray eyes fix on her.

"What of Vilkas and Farkas, hmm? Would they be willing to fight against me for their old Harbinger? Perhaps I should pay them a visit to see," he purrs, and Cry flinches inwardly at the mention of the twins' names.

"If you lay a finger on either of them, I will personally see your soul sucked into Oblivion," she growls, but kept her face straight all the same.

Hircine waves his hand dismissively. "Empty threats, love." He sighs and glances at the ground. "I suppose it's time you return to Nirn. Will I see you again sometime soon?"

"Perhaps," Cry responds, and Hircine blinks once.

"I look forward to it."

The red forest disappears, as does the Daedric prince, and Cry opens her eyes to find that she was lying on her bed in Jorrvaskr. Every single part of her body was tense, as though she had been holding still in her sleep as she had been before Hircine, and she sighs, allowing her muscles to relax.

She slowly lifts one arm, and then the other, looking at the bare skin on her form arms for the cuts she had received in the forest. She then lifted the blanket slightly so she could look at her legs, praying to the Divines that the bite she had received was gone.

It was, and Cry lets out a slow breath of relief, and then lowers the blanket, turning onto her side, her eyes fixing on the form in the bed beside her. She smiles slightly at the sight of Vilkas' calm face, unruffled in his sleep from the responsibilities he had during the day.

Gingerly, Cry reaches forward to move a strand of black hair from his face, not wanting to disturb him. She tucked it gently behind his ear, drawing her hand back. For a moment, he remained still, and she thought she had been successful, but then the Companion stirred, his eyelids fluttering and then opening fully. He blinked a few times and then yawned before his eyes finally focused on her, and a light grin touched his lips.

"Good morning, love."

She blinked as she remembered Hircine calling her the same thing, but all the same, she smiled as well and stretched her neck forward so she could give him a kiss. "Morning."

Vilkas stretched one arm up over her head and yawned again before his arm fell to the bed once more, jumping up a bit as it landed. "Did you sleep well?" he asks.

Cry was about to respond, but she decided against revealing her dream and remained silent, knowing it would only worry him.

Her silence must have told Vilkas something, for he blinked at her and then propped himself up on his elbow, head in his hand. "What happened?" he asks seriously, and she sighs, rolling over onto her opposite side so she was facing away from him.

"Nothing. I just had another dream, that's all," she reveals quietly.

Vilkas knew what she meant immediately, and he slid closer to her, putting a hand on her shoulder comfortingly. "Do you want to talk about it?" he asks quietly, and she shakes her head.

Vilkas, knowing when to drop a subject, rubbed her shoulder once more before he kissed it briefly. "You can tell me anything, you know."

When she nods in response, he sits up and slings his legs over the side of the bed. Running a hand over his face, Vilkas glances over his shoulder before standing to get dressed.

Cry didn't roll back over even when the leather pants he slept in fell to the floor, indicating that he was naked except for his undergarments. There was definitely something on her mind.

Vilkas wasn't sure whether he should question her once more, and he pulled on a daytime robe before moving to her side of the bed and sitting down beside her, one hand stroking her hair.

Cry's blue-gray eyes were fixed on the wall across from her, but when she felt Vilkas' hand on her hair, she glanced at him, forcing a smile. "I'm fine. Seriously."

Her husband wasn't convinced by her empty promise, but he dips his head in acceptance and then heads for the door. "I'm going to go get breakfast. See you upstairs?" he asks, and Cry nods again, sitting up for emphasis. Vilkas smiles at her and then leaves the room.

Cry sighs, a hand running through her hair momentarily, and she withdraws it when her fingers get caught in the tangles. _Please, don't let him get drawn into it. Don't let it happen to either of them._

Cry walked up the stairs, fresh and dressed in a simple blue dress. She headed over to where Vilkas was sitting and gave him a kiss before she sat down beside him, as was the daily ritual between the two.

One part was missing, however, and Cry gazed around the mead hall for the burly Companion that was supposed to make a disgusted noise as they kissed. "Where's Farkas?" she asks, and Aela looks up from her plate of potatoes and eggs.

"I think he's still asleep. Wouldn't wake up no matter what I did to him."

Cry stiffens at this news, and Vilkas looks at her worriedly. "Is something wrong?"

"I'm going to go check on him," she says, standing up once more and hurrying for the living quarter stairs. Vilkas watches her go, and then looks at the huntress sitting down the table from him.

"What do you know about this?" he questions, and Aela shrugs.

"I don't know anything. I only said he was still asleep." Vilkas sighs and then stands up as well to follow his wife down to the living quarters. "Where are you going?" Aela asks.

"To check on my brother," he answers as he walks down the stairs.

Cry was already at Farkas' bedroom, and was crouching beside the Companion's bed, one hand shaking his bare shoulder. "Farkas, you need to wake up!"

His eyelids were twitching, and every few seconds he would shudder or flinch, and then let out a small whimper. Now Cry was starting to get worried, and she shakes his shoulder harder. "Farkas!"

Vilkas appeared in the door way, and when he saw his brother flinch, he hurried over to join his wife beside the bed. "Farkas? Brother, wake up."

Farkas doesn't respond to the shove his brother gave him, and instead merely whimpers again and then rolls over. "Farkas!" Cry yells in an attempt to wake him up, as well as in a cry of panic. The fast asleep Companion didn't respond, and Cry puts a hand to her mouth to hold back a sob that had worked its way up inside of her.

Vilkas, however, refused to accept the fact that his brother wasn't going to wake up from his dark dream, and he furiously shook Farkas' shoulders, even rolling him over onto his back so he could slap his cheeks. "Farkas!"

"Vilkas!" Cry had to yank the Companion away from his twin and she pulled him to her and closed him into a hug. She gazed at Farkas from over Vilkas' head, who had his face buried into her chest. The Companion on the bed twitched again, and Cry silently cursed Hircine for doing this to her friend, as well as to her husband.

_I will kill you. One way, or another._

She heard a quiet chuckled beside her ear, and she felt hands grip her shoulders. _I look forward to it._

* * *

**Ah, Hircine's a dick! Good! **

**Poor Farkas. I hope he doesn't get hurt. **

**Anyway, I'm sorry for being gone for however long it's been. I've been focusing on school and the real book I'm writing. As you can tell, it hasn't really left me any time to write FanFictional type things, so...**

**Yeh.**

**Hopefully, I'll be able to stick around for a bit before I have to return to focusing on school. **

**Maybe.**

**We'll see!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Yay! I love you people! Thank you for the lovely "welcome back" and "I love this story" or whatever it was! Makes me very happy to see I was missed. **

**Second chapter, and y'all may not get one tomorrow, because I'm starting this online school thing that I'll need to focus on, so, yeah! Just a prewarning!**

* * *

Vilkas' mouth opened in a wide yawn, and Cry silently passed him a tankard of ale, hoping that it would be enough to keep him awake. He takes a half-hearted drink as he gazes at her over the rim of the cup. She watched him, waiting for him to say whatever was on his mind.

"I need to go," he finally begs, and Cry immediately shakes her head.

"I'm not going to lose you, too. I'll force you to stay away by freezing you, if I have too. I do know a Shout for that," she tells him. He sighs and puts the tankard down on the table, giving her the chance to take Vilkas' hands in her own. "Listen, I'm going to go and try to find him, see if I can convince him to wake up in his dream."

Vilkas gazes down at their hands, which were clasped together on the mead hall table. "This is my fault, isn't it? I told him to wait to start traveling to the Tomb until today. If you two had started going, this wouldn't have happened."

"See, that's where you're wrong," Cry replies, and Vilkas glances at her. "We would have stopped to make camp before we made it to the Tomb of Ysgramor, anyway. He would have slept then. It was inevitable."

Farkas and Cry had been making plans to travel to the Tomb to throw a Glenmoril Witch head into the Harbinger's Flame to rid Farkas of his own wolf spirit. Vilkas had convinced the two to wait, and stay in Whiterun until the next day. Farkas had been pulled into the fight by Hircine during the night.

Cry slams her fist down on the wood. "That damn Daedra! He threatened me, too. He practically told me he was going to drag the two of you into the battle." She shakes her head angrily. "Little did I know he already had one of you."

The Harbinger of the Companions looks at her husband, who was watching her as she spoke. She smiles sadly. "I'm going to get him back. Farkas is going to come back."

"I know. I just hope Hircine doesn't ask for anything in exchange," Vilkas says.

"Oh, I'm pretty positive he will. He'll probably ask me to call off the hunt against him and his pack of dogs." Cry snorts. "Too bad that's not up to me to decide."

Vilkas tilts his head thoughtfully. "Perhaps you should talk too whose decision matters the most."

"Kodlak? I haven't seen him once," she says, and the Companion sitting beside her at the table sighs, thinking.

"Maybe he's wherever the thick of the battle is happening."

"It's not like that in the hunting grounds, Vilkas. The wolves corner the humans in the woods, and attack us singly. There is no group battle; it's one on one, sometimes even one on five. Or more," she tells him, shuddering when she remembered being attacked by seven of Hircine's wolves at once. The only thing that stopped them was the Shout she had learned in Dustman's Cairn, _Yol Toor Shol_.

The more she killed, however, the more Hircine seemed to create. And who knew which ones were spirits, and which ones were actual humans who lived in Tamriel?

She growls in the back of her throat. One of them was Farkas, and she intended to get that one back.

Determined, she leans forward to give Vilkas a kiss before she stands up. "Don't you fall asleep," she warns, and he nods.

"I'll do my best."

"I suppose that's all I can ask for," Cry responds, and then heads down to the living quarters to go to sleep. Vilkas sighs and rubs his face with his hand, and then slaps himself on the cheeks.

Suddenly, he gets an idea. "Tilma, do we have any cold water?"

(*)

Cry sneaks into Farkas' bedroom dressed in her night clothes, shutting the door loudly to see if it would arose the sleeping Nord, which of course, it didn't. She gazes down worriedly at the burly Companion, who was tangled in his sheets and was letting out a small whimper every few seconds. He was sweating, and his face was contorted with a mixture of emotions: anger, pain, and even something close to pure rage.

She bites her lip and wipes his face down with a wash cloth Tilma had brought into the room for that very purpose. "Don't worry, Farky Fru. I'll get you out of this. Somehow," she says quietly, laying down the bedroll she had brought with her into the bedroom on the floor at the end of his bed and laying down on it. She closes her eyes and practices the breathing exercises the Greybeards had taught her to help get in meditation.

Soon, she was fast asleep, and put into the same red forest as the night before, equipped with her scaled armor and Skyforge great-sword. On instinct, she reaches on her back to grab the hilt of her weapon, and she pulls it out in front of her, eyes darting around the forest.

"Where do you have him?" she growls, knowing that the Daedric prince was watching her.

Almost like she was falling asleep again, Cry was teleported to a different area of the woods, this time in a small clearing. She heard snarling and a shout of panic that was silenced almost immediately as a wolf presumably tore the human's throat out. She flinches when she realizes that the human was most likely one of the Companion's previous Harbingers, and prayed to Talos it wasn't Kodlak.

"Kodlak is off fighting somewhere else, little one." A familiar voice drew her attention to the other end of the clearing, and the Daedra himself appeared in his wolf form. She immediately fixed a poker face on and gazed straight ahead as Hircine approached her, morphing into his human form, skull mask on. "Though, he's not why you're here, is he?"

"Where's Farkas?" she asks, her voice a hiss. She imagined the Daedric prince's lips curling into a smile behind his stag-mask.

"Living up to my expectations, as I asked of him."

"You didn't ask him anything!" Cry yells, and his head tilts.

"What makes you so sure?"

"Farkas wouldn't do anything for you. He wanted to be cured! We were going to go do that when we both woke up. But we didn't both wake up, because of you, you stupid, smelly, disgusting… DOG!" she screams.

Hircine's formed changed to a sabre cat, and he closed the short distance between her and him, his muzzle right in her face. "He belongs to me!"

"He doesn't belong to anyone!"

"As long as he's a wolf, he's belongs to me, and therefore, I will use him anyway I want!" Hircine growls.

Cry glares at him. "Why don't you just kill me, then? If you kill me, you won't be bothered about him anymore."

"Don't you understand, you stupid human? I _need_ you alive," Hircine replies.

"Why?"

"Because you're the most valuable human in the world! Half dragon, and half human! Imagine if you were to put a wolf in there as well! All the power you would possess…" The prince backs away, changing back into his human form. He walks around her, and places his hands on her shoulders. Cry holds back a shudder that threatens to run through her at his touch. "Tell me, Cry. Is there any reason why you don't wish to be a wolf?"

"I despise you," she says simply.

Hircine chuckles at this response, tightening his grip on her shoulders. "That's too bad. Because… I would be willing to trade."

Cry glances at the ground as she thinks about this, a stone dropping into her stomach. "A trade?" she finally asks.

"Yes, a trade. You, for him," Hircine purrs, pushing Cry through the trees to a larger clearing. A man sent a big black wolf flying across the grass, and the wolf landed on its side with a whimper. Cry knew immediately who the wolf was, and she had to bite her lip to keep from screaming as the human stalked towards the fallen beast, who was struggling to get back on his paws.

"Help him," she begs quietly as the man raised his sword, about to dig it into the wolf.

Hircine mumbles something incoherent, and the wolf disappears, leaving a very angry human behind, who stomps away into the trees. "You see? Anything like that can happen when I'm not watching, and Farkas will be gone. But…" The Daedra turns Cry around so that she's facing him, and he puts a hand under her chin, lifting her head up. "You give yourself to me, and I'll let Farkas go. I'll leave Vilkas alone. All I need is your loyalty, little one, and every threat I have placed on your Companions' heads will disappear for good."

Cry swallows and glances back at the spot on the grass where the wolf form of Farkas had just been lying. The grass was tinted a darker red than the rest of the forest, and she realizes he had been bleeding. With a sigh, she bows her head and closes her eyes. "I will give myself to you if you swear on your own life that you will leave Vilkas and Farkas and any other alive humans who have the Beast blood alone. For good."

She knew he was smiling, and Hircine dips his head before his hands run down her arms to take hers. He lifts her arm and cuts open her skin with a fingernail, and she sucks in a breath of pain as a trail of blood comes from the wound. The Daedra wipes at the red with his finger, which he then licks to clean the blood off.

"Now, for the second part," he says, and then cuts open his own arm. He lets the blood from his wound trickle into the cut on her arm. When they had watched the blood transfer for a few minutes, Hircine closes up his cut by running a hand over it and murmuring a spell. He then does the same to Cry's cut, before he lifts her hand up. His form changes into a different human, most likely the one that the wolf had killed only a few minutes before, and he kisses her skin softly.

"It's nice to have you back, Dragonborn," he purrs, and then the Daedric prince disappears from view. His voice echoes around her as the Harbinger of the Companions drops to her knees, fingers running over the newly formed scar on her forearm. "I'll see you soon, love."

* * *

**Fucking creeper, man! Only Vilkas is allowed to call Cry love. That's just how it is.**

**Hope you guys enjoyed, and I'll see you in two days. (Maybe)**

**:]**


	3. Chapter 3

**You wanna know what I hate? I hate how you have like five pages written on a Word document, and yet it's only like 1,400 words. You're like: "I thought I wrote a lot. I thought I was good", only you're not, really. **

**CHANGE YOUR FONT SIZE. **

* * *

Farkas awoke in his bed with a start, almost as though someone had dropped him onto the mattress. He groans, rubbing at his forehead with one hand before he untangles himself from his sheets and swings his legs over the side of the bed to the wood floor, elbows on his knees as he tries to clear his thoughts.

He heard a groan, and his head jerks upright. The Nord gazes around his room, searching for the source, until he notices Cry sleeping on a bedroll on the floor at the foot of his bed. She was blinking open her eyes, and her mouth opens in a yawn before her gaze rests on the Companion that was looking at her from over the foot board on his bed.

"Thank Talos you're awake!" she exclaims, scrambling up to give him a hug.

"So it wasn't a dream," Farkas breaths, his voice barely a whisper. Cry shakes her head as she pulls back from their hug, sniffling. Farkas gazes at her worriedly as a tear rolls down her cheek and falls off of her chin. "Why are you crying?"

"I'm just glad you're okay," she gasps out before she dusts away the tears forming in her eyes. "I have to check on Vilkas!"

She hurries from the room, Farkas following her more slowly, but still in a rush to see if his brother was alright. They burst into the sitting room of the Harbinger's bedroom to see a brass tub sitting in the center. Vilkas sat inside of it, his teeth chattering. Cry blinks at this image, and Farkas retreats from the room when he realizes his twin was naked. "Why are you sitting in ice cold water?" she asks.

Vilkas glances at her. "B-Because I w-wanted t-to stay aw-wake. I f-figured th-that cold w-water would w-work," he says between shivers. Cry hurries over to the tub and grabs the robe waiting for him beside it before she helps the Companion out of the water and wraps him up in the robe, walking him over to the bed in the other room and laying him down, covering him in blankets.

Vilkas lets out a sigh of contentment, and then his eyes fix on a scar on her forearm. "What in Ysgramor's beard is that?" he demands, and Cry's gaze follows his own before her blue-gray eyes widen and she slaps a hand down over the scar.

"It's nothing," she mutters, putting the arm with the scar behind her back. Vilkas narrows his eyes and furrows his brow.

"What happened?"

"I don't want to tell you. You'll get angry," Cry replies quietly.

"Love," Vilkas persists, and Cry visibly shudders at the word. Now Vilkas was extremely concerned. He abandons the blankets and slides beside her on the bed. "What happened to you?"

Cry's heart ached as she gazed at him. She wanted so much to say something, but she didn't know how Hircine would react if she told anyone what had happened, and so she merely shook her head and whispered, "I can't."

Vilkas studied her steadily for a long while, and she could read the hurt written in his eyes. Finally, he scoots away from her and stands up, putting his robe on properly. "Fine. You don't have to tell me."

She stands up after him, holding out her hand. "Vilkas, I'm sorry. I don't know what will happen if I do."

"It's alright. I understand," he says, not turning around as he pulls on underwear and then leather pants. Cry watches him, head tilted.

"You do?"

Vilkas glances at her over his shoulder at her as he pulls on a shirt. "Yeah, definitely. I understand you don't trust me enough to tell me. It's fine. Serious." He then shoulders past her out of the room and doesn't turn back around.

"Vilkas!" Cry calls, but he doesn't come back, or even acknowledge her, and she sighs in desperation, before she stomps her foot angrily. "Fine! Be like that, you… you… you man!" she yells, and then slams the doors to the sitting room area of her bedroom, leaning back against them as tears begin to fall down her cheeks.

Hurriedly, she wipes them away and storms away from the door and begins to pace around the still-filled tub in the center of the room. Anger pulsates through her veins and she almost kicks over the tub but stops herself just in time and instead kicks the wall instead. A dull pain enters her foot, but disappears almost immediately thanks to the intensified healing of the Beast blood inside of her, and she sits down on the floor, breathing heavily.

"This is all your fault," she hisses to the unseen presence in the room.

_My fault? It was your decision, love,_ Hircine's voice responds.

"Don't call me that," Cry growls, and the Daedric prince chuckles. The Companion stiffens when she feels fingers against her back, which she straightens in an effort to brush the feeling away. "Get away from me," she commands.

_Not possible, little one. We're connected now, you and I. You have me inside of you._ _You belong to me now._

"I don't belong to anyone," Cry growls before she quickly changes into her armor that was waiting on the table at the foot of her bed. Making sure to pick up her sword, she slides the sheath over her shoulders before she picks up her backpack and hurries out of her bedroom and down the hall towards the stairs.

She passed Athis and Torvar, who were exchanging words at the end of the hallway. "Where are you going, Harbinger?" Athis asks, and Cry stops mid-step.

Knowing that she couldn't tell them the truth, she says, "I'm just going to go on a trip. If anyone asks, I'm in Dawnstar." Then she slips up the stairs and out of Jorrvaskr, leaving a confused Dunmer and Nord behind her.

_Dawnstar? Oh, Cry, I hope you're not thinking what I think you are,_ Hircine says.

"I think you know exactly what I'm doing," she growls, walking past the Temple of Kynareth towards the gates of Whiterun.

_What about our exchange, Dragonborn? You for your Companions? _Cry pauses, waiting for him to continue. _Do you think that I will stick to my word if you don't stick to yours? Clearly you've never dealt with a Daedra before. _

"You would take them," she murmurs.

_She's a genius!_ Hircine muses sarcastically.

Cry growls in the back of her throat. She couldn't cure herself. There was nothing for her to do except keep the wolf inside of her, to keep Vilkas and Farkas safe. _Now you understand,_ the Daedra beside her purrs quietly. Cry feels fingers ghost over the scar on her forearm, which was hanging rigidly by her side. On instinct, she jerks her arm up and covers the scar with her other hand, thumb rubbing against it as it began to throb.

_You see? There is no winning for you in this situation, little one. You're mine now. _

Cry's heart began to speed up, and she felt her blood boil. _I can make you transform whenever I want, and there is _nothing_ you can do about it. _

The Harbinger's blood pounded in her ears, and her body shuddered. She knew she needed to get out of Whiterun, and fast.

Without glancing back at Jorrvaskr, she raced towards the gates of Whiterun, just missing Vilkas as he came out of the mead hall.

His gray eyes followed her as she ran out of the Cloud District, and realization dawned on him. "No…"

"Vilkas?" He turned to see Aela come out of Jorrvaskr, a question on her face. "What's going on?"

"I-I think Cry gave herself up to Hircine to get Farkas back," Vilkas replies quietly, knowing that's what the scar on her arm had been from. He suddenly felt extremely bad for giving her the cold shoulder when she didn't tell him, and he hung his head. "I can't believe she did that."

"Are you that surprised?" Aela asks, and Vilkas looks up to see the huntress had crossed her arms. She shrugged and leaned back against the doors. "Farkas is her best friend, and her brother-in-law. She would do anything for him."

"I-"

"What's going on out here?" Farkas asks, coming around the side of Jorrvaskr, having come out the back door. He glances from Vilkas to Aela, and then back again. "Did you figure out where Cry was going?"

Vilkas and Aela exchange a look, and then Vilkas' hand goes to the hilt of the sword on his hip, which he had put on in case he had to go after her. He guessed he had too, now. "No, I didn't. But I'm going to go find out. I'll be back soon."

Without waiting for a response from either of them, Vilkas heads towards the gates of Whiterun, prepared to not come back without his wife, one way or another. Farkas and Aela watched him go, and then the male Companion glanced at his Shield-Sister. "What's going on?"

"That's for Cry to tell you, Brother," Aela responds, pulling open the door to Jorrvaskr and disappearing inside.

* * *

**Oh God! Will Vilkas find Cry? **

***shrug* I don't know.**

**For my online class, I have to write a personal narrative about a life changing experience that I've had. **

***thinks for a moment* I don't know, honestly. I don't think I've ever really had a life changing experience before. I'll probably have to make something up, huh? *winks* Good thing I'm a writer!  
**

**:]**


	4. Chapter 4

**I also hate baseball cards. Just throwing that out there.**

* * *

Vilkas followed Cry's scent into the woods leading away from Whiterun into Falkreath. About halfway, her smell changed from the normal mountain flower mixed with sweet rolls scent to a wet dog smell, mingled with the stench of fear and anger.

Vilkas had to stop to find her trail when he reached the tree line, where he found her discarded backpack and sword, as well as her armor. He grinned a bit, shaking his head. Of course Cry would take off her armor first. It was her prized possession, next to her great-sword.

He picked everything up and continued on, following the dog smell further into the trees until he heard a soft moaning coming from somewhere. "Cry!" Vilkas yells, not really expecting a reply.

He didn't get one, and he relies on his senses to lead him to her. Eventually, he finds his wife lying in a clearing, a dead elk beside her. She was naked, and undergrowth was sticking to her sweaty skin. Her face was contorted in pain, and Vilkas' heart breaks right away, knowing exactly how Cry felt. "Oh, love," he breathes, crouching down beside her.

He removes his shirt and slips it over her, leaving himself bare chested. He didn't care, though, and he put her bag down to look inside to see if there was better cover for her. He sighs, sending a silent prayer of thanks to Ysgramor as he pulled her cloak from the sack and slipped it around her, wrapping her up tightly. "Why did you do this to yourself, darling?" he asks.

Cry whimpered quietly, and Vilkas shakes his head before sliding her armor into her bag. He slips her sword's sheath over his shoulders and then slides her bag up on to back before lifting Cry up off the ground in a baby hold and setting off back through the trees towards Whiterun.

(*)

Later, Cry was sitting in a tub filled with warm water, her head leaning back over the edge, her eyes closed. She was so embarrassed that Vilkas had found her the way she did. Her mind drifted to when she had realized she couldn't hold back the transformation any longer, and she had taken off her armor and left everything on the tree-line. She remembered how her skin had stretched, and everything had been on fire until she had killed and feasted.

After that, she didn't remember much, only that she had transformed back and then collapsed beside her kill. She had woken up in her bed at Jorrvaskr with Vilkas gazing down at her worriedly while Tilma was wetting a washcloth in a bucket of water. When her eyes had opened, Vilkas had let out a sigh of relief and arranged with Tilma for a bath to be poured.

So that's what Cry was doing. She was taking a bath in the same tub Vilkas had been using to stay awake, almost falling asleep where she was from the warm water that swirled around her. The only thing that kept her awake was the bottle of mead that rested on a table beside her, and she picked it up and took a drink before she could fall asleep.

Sighing, she puts it back down and decides she might as well clean herself. She halfheartedly picked up a cloth from the table, as well as a bar of soap, and began scrubbing the dirt off of her skin.

She paused mid-scrub when there was a knock on her bedroom door, which had been closed for privacy. "Who is it?" she asks.

"It's Vilkas. I'm just making sure you're doing okay."

Cry splashed at the water in response, and one of the double doors opened slightly. Vilkas stuck his head through the crack and looked at her. "Are you alright?"

"Fine," she replies quietly, and Vilkas sighs, opening the door a bit wider so he could get into the room fully before shutting it again and walking over to the tub. Silently, Cry passes him the soap and cloth, and then leans forward so that he could wash her back. "I'm sorry," she finally says when quiet had rested over them for several minutes.

"You don't need to be sorry. You did it to save my brother," Vilkas says, running the cloth over her shoulders and across her neck.

"Yes, that's true. But I didn't do it just for him. I did it for you, too. I should have just told you."

"I've been thinking, love. Maybe there's a way to get past this," Vilkas tells her, and Cry glances at him over her shoulder.

"What do you mean?" she questions.

"I mean that there may be a way to be done with Hircine's threat for good."

"But what? What could we possibly do to get rid of him? He's a Daedric Prince!"

"But we're the Companions," Vilkas responds.

"As nice as that is, I don't think we stand much chance against a God of sorts," Cry says, facing forward once more. Vilkas moved the cloth to her other shoulder and began to scrub it.

"All I'm saying is that there's a way, thanks to a previous Harbinger of ours, who figured out how to solve our issue."

Cry's brow furrows as she thinks about this, trying to understand what he was talking about. Suddenly, it dawns on her. "Kodlak! Right! But how would we be able to…?"

"We'd just have to go as fast as we could, and not stop for camp. Werewolves don't need sleep, anyway," Vilkas points out.

Cry opened her mouth to argue, but closed it a moment later, realizing she couldn't. Vilkas was right; as werewolves, she, Vilkas, and Farkas could live without sleep. They would just have to resist stopping to rest, and go straight to the Tomb.

Vilkas notices that she had realized he was right, and he says, "So, we can go."

"But…" Cry trails off, not sure if she wanted to tell him. Vilkas' hand stops moving, and she can feel the cloth pause on her neck. "I don't know if I'll be able to control my transformations. I know I won't be able too, actually. When I transform, it's all Hircine, and too keep us from going, who knows how many times he'll make me change?" She sighs and shakes her head sadly. "I can't accompany you two, Vilkas. It's too risky."

Vilkas had stiffened at this news. Cry waited for the explosion, but it didn't come, instead, Vilkas calmly continues to clean her back as he says, "I understand. But I don't know if I want to leave you alone here while Farkas and I go. Will you promise me you'll stay safe, as best as you can?"

Cry thought she could faintly hear a wolf howling in the back of her head, where she had previously imagined shoving the beast-like instincts earlier that day, after Vilkas had found her in the woods. Quickly, she muffled the thought and nodded wearily.

"I'll do my best, Vilkas. Not sure what my _best_ is right now, but I'll certainly try."

"And what about after? When Farkas and I are clean?" he queries.

Cry gazes down at the murky bathwater, now clouded from the dirt Vilkas was scrubbing off of her. She merely splashes at it in response to his question, and her husband sighs. "Right," he grunts.

Cry twists her head around so she could look at him, reaching up to stroke his cheek with her hand. He looked back at her, his gray eyes tired and sleepless. Even though he didn't need to sleep, Vilkas was still immensely tired, and he needed a nap or something of the sorts. "Vilkas…" she begins, but he shakes his head, kissing her forehead.

"I'm fine, love. Truthfully. You need to be thinking about yourself," he insists. Cry had once again flinched at the word, and silently cursed Hircine for making her feel that way.

"I'm going to try. Honest," she assures. _I will try, but I don't know if I'm going to succeed._

_I don't know if I _can_ succeed._

* * *

**Short chapters. Yep. I wasn't really sure why the hell I had them discuss this while Cry was in the bathtub, but eh. That's just me, I guess.  
**

**Also, I've decided to write about how I got over my stage fright for the first time as my personal narrative. We have to get rid of dead verbs. Did you guys know "was" is a verb?**

**I had no freakin' clue.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey.**

**How's it going? I'm home! **

**Kind of.**

**Sorry for the like... three month?... hiatus. I was doing school things, man! I needed to pass! **

**Anyway, summer is here now, and I'm going to keep doing this thing, cause you guys seemed to enjoy it.**

**Happy summer everybody. Let's get back into it.**

* * *

"You're going to be fine," Aela was assuring in the background as Farkas scooped up Cry in a bear hug. The two friends ignored her and Farkas set Cry back down gently, putting hands on her shoulders.

"You'll be okay." It wasn't a question, but Cry wished it had been, so she could grab her friend once more and start sobbing. Don't leave me by myself.

Instead, she nodded bleakly. Farkas nods back and hugs her once more before moving on to say his goodbyes with Aela. Vilkas stepped up, and Cry's heart heaved. Both of the most important people in her life were leaving her to travel through snow and wind during the beginnings of winter. She reached out and grabbed Vilkas tightly, not wanting to let him go.

Her husband hugged her back, hand stroking her hair. "I'll come back as soon as I can," he assures quietly.

"You better, or I'll kill you," she mutters into his chest, head hidden to hide her tears. Vilkas pries her off of him and holds her out at arm's length, lifting her head with a finger beneath her chin.

"And in return, you stay awake."

Cry blinks at this, but nods all the same. "I'll try."

Vilkas leans down and kisses her momentarily. Again, the wolf howled in the back of her mind, and Cry's scar burned ferociously on her arm. She refused to allow Hircine to take away everything, however, and she pushed away the pain, putting her hand on the back of Vilkas's neck to kiss him harder, until Farkas cleared his throat.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming," Vilkas grumbles to his twin, his eyes locking on hers. "I'll see you soon."

And just like that, he disappeared. Cry was left alone standing in front of doors to Jorrvaskr, stiff with fear. She realized that she was alone now, the only Circle member still with her the one who actually enjoyed being a werewolf. She chocked back a sob and slid to a sitting potion on the steps, leaning against the cobblestone wall. What now?

The wolf howled again, and she could sense it hopping around her brain excitedly. _No. I refuse to give in to you. _

The wolf merely persisted, and began to circle around restlessly, growling. _You're not coming out. I won't let you. _

The wolf's muzzle lifted, and he howled, long and loud. Cry collapsed against the wall outside of Jorrvaskr, her head pounding. Won't. Give. In.

In response to the wolf, an even louder roar filled her head, and suddenly the wolf was being forced away by a large reptilian like creature. Cry recognized what it was immediately as a gale of fire came out of its mouth, pushing the wolf even farther back in fear.

_Dragon!_ Hircine hissed angrily.

_Dragon_, Cry thinks, a smirk of triumph raising the corner of her mouth.

(*)

Vilkas gazed at the mountain pass that would lead them into Dawnstar. A light snow had already started fluttering down around him and his twin, who didn't look any happier than Vilkas felt.

"I wish we hadn't left her alone," Farkas mumbles under his breath.

"I know, brother. But this is the only way Cry will be safe enough to get rid of her own wolf," Vilkas replies, hoping that he was right. If Vilkas and Farkas were no longer threatened by Hircine, Cry wouldn't have to hold up to her end of the deal, and she could travel to the Tomb herself to get rid of her wolf once again.

Farkas sighed beside him, bringing Vilkas back to the present. He smiled sadly and put a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Let's get going."

The two male Companions set off into the mountain pass, both well aware that the most dangerous part would be the seemingly harmless white stuff falling from the sky. All the same, they kept their senses alert, feeling the weight of the great-swords on their backs, and taking pleasure in knowing they could fight off any threats that stepped in their way.

As Vilkas focused on walking through the snow without slipping, his mind also drifted to Cry back in Whiterun. Hopefully in Whiterun, anyway. He wanted to be back with her, and as soon as possible. He missed her already, and he'd barely been away for three hours. He could feel himself getting farther and farther away from her, and it was hurting. A lot.

Farkas seemed to sense that his brother was feeling bad, because he nudges his gently with his arm. "We'll be back soon."

"We can only hope so," Vilkas admits sullenly, looking further into the snowy mountain pass. They continued walking and made it several feet when they heard an angry growling from somewhere above them. Vilkas's hand immediately reached up and grabbed the hilt of his great-sword and pulled it out of its sheath, holding it up. Beside him, Farkas had done the same, and the siblings pressed their backs together and looked around.

Without warning, a snowy white wolf burst from behind a rock and rammed into Farkas, sending him flying. The wolf was bigger than Vilkas had ever seen, and his mouth drops open. Another growl yanked him back to attention, and he whipped around just in time to see another wolf leap at him. Vilkas hits the ground with a grunt, and scurries back to his feet, great-sword up. The wolf was glaring at him, mouth lifted in a snarl, white teeth glinting. Vilkas slowly begins to circle to the right of the wolf, keeping his eyes trained on it. The wolf followed his movements, eyes moving to match his position.

Vilkas starts back, moving to the left. The wolf continues to watch him, never once looking away to see how it's companion was faring. "Vilkas!" Farkas howls nearby.

The Companion glances over at him briefly, which allows the wolf to jump at him again, snarling. Vilkas raises his blade in time to knock the wolf away, but only briefly. Bleeding from somewhere, the wolf struggles back to its paws, growling. Vilkas glances from it to his brother, who was still trapped beneath the other creature.

Keeping his gaze locked on the wolf attacking him, Vilkas runs over to the wolf on top of his brother and sends it off him with a kick. The wolf yelps as his boot makes contact with its stomach and goes sailing into a snowdrift. Vilkas quickly turns back to the other wolf, but sees that it had only started to approach him and his twin, with three others behind it. Farkas climbs to his feet, and holds out his sword.

"Come on, then," he taunts. "Let's go!"

One of the wolves in the back leaps forward, and Farkas catches it mid-swing in the side, and the wolf flies off to the side, a long cut visible through the white fur. A second wolf jumps towards Vilkas, and the Companion lifts his great-sword in a vertical swing. The blade goes right through the wolf's throat, and Vilkas pulls it out, letting the wolf fall to the snow.

Only having to deal with two now, the twins stood together, Farkas holding his blade out, and Vilkas holding his own up. The wolves studied them, and then the one on the left jumps forward suddenly, latching onto Vilkas' arm. The armor there blocked out the teeth of the wolf, but its jaw tightened, and the Companion grunted as he felt the teeth break through the mail and dig into his skin.

Farkas finishes off the other wolf, which had leapt at him, and then he kills the one hanging onto his brother. The wolf's weight as it falls to the snow drags Vilkas down as well, and he groans, the teeth twisting. Farkas lets out a sigh and looks around briefly at the dead wolves before hurrying over to his twin. Squatting down beside him, he studies the wolf's jaw around his arm, and attempt to pry it them open with his hands.

"Augh!" Vilkas complains as the jaws start to move, and then close back up when Farkas's strength fails. His brother tilts his head and glances around.

"How in Oblivion am I supposed to get it off you?" he asks, probably to himself.

Still, since Vilkas was the one who had a wolf on his arm, feels it necessary to reply: "Use. The. Dagger," he hisses through clenched teeth, his free hand reaching for the dagger on his belt.

"Right!" Farkas says, taking the knife of him and inserting it in the wolf's jowls. He glances at his brother. "Ready?"

"Just do it," Vilkas mutters, closing his eyes.

"Alright," Farkas says, focusing his attention back on his job. He lets out a breath and pushes down on the hilt. Vilkas yells as the jaws lift away from his arm, and Farkas shoves the wolf away with a satisfied grunt. "Good!"

Vilkas pulls off his gauntlet and studies the wound. A curved, bloody bite nestled on his arm, burning as the snow falling from the sky touched it. He curses under his breath and holds out his arm to Farkas. "You see this? This is Hircine not touching us himself, but letting his lackeys do it for him."

Farkas studies the wound before pulling his pack off his back and withdrawing a roll of bandages. "Hircine letting other things do his dirty work should be covered in bandages so it doesn't get infected," he tells his brother, taking his arm. Vilkas allows him to clean and dress the wound, but slip the gauntlet back on once he was done and stands.

"We need to keep moving," he says, looking up the mountain pass. "If we want to get to Dawnstar by midday tomorrow, we'll have to hurry."

Farkas nods and puts his pack back on, picking up his great-sword. "Let's get going."

* * *

**Yay! They've vanquished the wolf threat! For now, anyway. Hopefully that bite doesn't give Vilkas any trouble.**

***cough***

**Maybe I'll have a new chapter tomorrow? Or maybe I'll be doing a thing where I wait like two days between chapters so I don't feel pressured. I don't know. Keep on a look out for an update all the same. It's good to be back. **

**:]**


	6. Chapter 6

**Yep, definitely gonna take a two day break between chapters. It's a lot easier to write knowing I have more time! **

* * *

Cry's head falls against the wood of the table in the mead hall, and Tilma throws a bucket of ice water over her. Sputtering, Cry yelps and jumps away from the old woman, shivering. "W-What was t-that for?" she demands, wrapping her armors around herself.

Tilma rolls her eyes and holds out a towel. Cry takes it cautiously and dries herself off as the maid replies, "You were falling asleep."

"I was not!" the Harbinger complains, wrapping up in the towel. "I was just resting my head on the table."

"Your eyes were closed, and you were starting to snore. You were falling asleep, Cry," Tilma insists, walking towards the doors of Jorrvaskr. "Can I trust you to stay awake long enough for me to go get some groceries for dinner?"

Cry nods, sitting back down in a chair. "Go ahead. I'll be fine."

Tilma gives her a look before pulling open the big door. "If you're asleep when I get back, you'll never hear the end of it," she warns before stepping outside.

Cry sighs and leans back in her chair, still damp. Had she really started to fall asleep? She reached forward and grabbed her bottle of mead, taking a drink. Whoever said that werewolves could live without sleep was very wrong. She could barely think straight, and fumbled to put the bottle back on the table, missing several times and banging it against empty space until she finally succeeded in putting it down. It burned to keep her eyes open, and she rubbed at them with the back of her hand.

_Go ahead and sleep, little wolf,_ Hircine purrs in her ear. A fire burns in her arm, and she subconsciously covers the scar. _When you sleep, so does the wolf._

"I won't listen to you," Cry says, her head nodding against her chest. When her chin bounced off her armor, she raised it again and rubs her face. She reaches forward to grab her mead, but her arm twists in pain and she cries out, falling from the chair to the floor.

_Change!_ Hircine commands through the blood pounding in her ears. _You must change!_

"I… Won't…" Cry repeats, trying to get a grip on herself. She puts a hand on the table and hauls herself to her feet, groaning. Another pain shoots through her arm, but it seems to start in her fingers and travel through her whole body this time. She shudders and falls back to her knees.

_You will,_ Hircine growls, and another sharp burning goes through her. _I command it._

The wolf howls loudly, and Cry whimpers, collapsing to the floor entirely, her head hitting the wood. _Dragon, help me,_ she begs silently. The dragon roars, fire spilling out of its mouth in front of the wolf, but the furry creature merely jumped over it and continued closer to the front of her head.

_The dragon does nothing for you!_ Hircine shouts, and the wolf howls again, stalking forward. _You are not a dragon, Cry Silverworthy! You are a wolf!_

"I'm a wolf," she repeats, fist clenching.

_A wolf,_ Hircine encourages.

"A wolf," Cry says again, lifting her head and then her torso from the ground. The wolf jumps around excitedly, yipping. The Companion pulls herself to her feet, scar burning fiercely, and the wolf inside her howls. "I am a wolf."

_You are a wolf,_ Hircine agrees, his voice silky. _Go, my child. Hunt. Feast. _

"Hunt. Feast." Cry starts towards the doors of Jorrvaskr, but a pain in her arm pulls her to a stop. "Hunt? Feast?"

_Not that way, little one,_ Hircine says. _Go out the back door. No one will see you if you go that way._

"Back door," Cry answers, turning and going to the other way. She pulls open the back door and starts to step outside.

"Cry?" She stops and turns to see Aela standing near the stairs to the living quarters. The huntress had her head tilted, and was looking at her in concern. "Where are you going, Harbinger?"

_Ah, Aela. Would you like to hunt with her, love?_

"Hunt," Cry says, agreeing. "Feast."

_Very well,_ Hircine tells her. Aela's gaze changed from one of concern, to one of hunger.

"You're going hunting?"

"Hunt," Cry tells her, and her arm lifts, almost as though it had a mind of its own. "Come."

Aela's eyes burn as she comes towards her. _Two of my favorite children, hunting together,_ Hircine says joyfully. _This is a wonderful day._

Cry holds open the door for Aela, and then exits Jorrvaskr herself, leaving an empty mead hall. "Where?" she asks Aela, and the huntress raising her head, sniffing.

"Plains," she answers after a moment. "Deer."

_Go, my children,_ Hircine encourages happily. _Hunt to your hearts' content. _

"We go," Cry tells Aela, and she hops over the back wall of the training yard. Aela follows immediately.

In the mead hall, Tilma pulls open the front doors to find an empty room. She sighs when she spots the towel Cry had been wearing discarded on the floor, and she picks it up, gazing around. "What have I done?" she whispers softly.

(*)

Vilkas ignored the burning in his arm as he follows Farkas out of the mountains and onto a snow covered cobblestone road. "We're almost to Dawnstar," he tells his twin, relief moving through him. "We made it."

"Let's not praise ourselves just yet," Farkas warns, continuing forward. "We still have a ways to go."

They walked on towards Dawnstar in silence. Vilkas's arm was stinging something awful, but he didn't want to say anything. Farkas would probably make him drink a health potion, and those things tasted horrible. Besides, he had bigger things to worry about, like how Cry was doing back at Jorrvaskr. Last night, as he and Farkas had reached the top of the mountain, his arm had hurt even worse than it did now.

He had begun to suspect it had something to do with Cry, but he shook off the thought. Silly magic things like that didn't exist, he had told himself. There was no way he was feeling what Cry felt. As they came within sights of Dawnstar's wooden buildings, the prospect returned to him. Was something happening to Cry that he didn't know about? The thought scared him, more than he cared to admit. What if he and Farkas came home only to find Cry asleep? All of their efforts would have been for nothing.

"Vilkas?" Farkas's voice pulls him back to the present, and he turns to his brother. The Companion was looking at him worriedly. "Is your arm okay?"

At the mention of it, a sharp pain goes through it, but Vilkas nods. "Fine. Don't worry about me."

Farkas starts to say something else, but he cuts off, mouth closing with a nod. Vilkas faces forward once more, studying the coastline. The Tomb of Ysgramor lay around that bend in the distance. If they ran, they would be there in five minutes. He turns to Farkas. "Feel like running a bit?"

Farkas glanced towards the coast as well, and blinks. "Yeah, let's do it."

Together, the twins start to run through Dawnstar and towards the coast. They didn't stop when they reached the beach, and they continued running even when they reached the beach. They ran even when they reached the bend in the beach, and Farkas pulled to a stop when he saw the horker standing in front of them. The fat creature barked at them, but Vilkas ignored it entirely and ran around it. "I'll catch up!" Farkas calls to him as his twin continued to run towards the Tomb.

Vilkas waves his hand to signify he had heard, but keep running. He doesn't stop running until he's inside the Tomb, and the door shuts heavily behind him. He lets out a breath and walks over to the short cut that leads directly to the burial chamber far beneath the ground. He reaches the bottom of the spiral staircase, and blinks at what he found.

All standing around the Harbinger's Flame were ghosts, each a clear translucent blue. Vilkas goes back up the stairs away and strains his ears to hear what they were talking about.

"His attacks are getting stronger," one says solemnly.

"We're safe nowhere in the hunting grounds," another adds. "We need to think of a different strategy."

"He doesn't come to us if we're not alone!" someone points out angrily. "He's too frightened to fight us as a group!"

"Then maybe we should go find him!" the second cries. He received shouts of encouragement in response, but one voice rang out above all the others.

"I will have silence!"

"Kodlak," Vilkas breathes.

"What's going on?" Farkas asks, appearing behind him. Vilkas presses a finger to his lip and goes back to listening.

"Now, Hircine's attacks are getting worse. We need to focus on killing as many of his wolves as possible," Kodlak goes on once all the voices had quieted down. Vilkas watches Farkas's eyes widen as he recognizes the voice. Before he could stop him, his twin sprints past him into the burial chamber.

"Kodlak!"

"Farkas!" Vilkas hisses, hurrying after him. It was too late, though. All of the ghosts had turned and were looking at them. Vilkas backs away from them slowly, holding up his hands. "I'm very sorry we've intruded on your war council."

"Vilkas? Farkas?" Kodlak's ghost steps forward, and Vilkas lets out a sigh, bowing his head. Both he and Farkas bend the knee.

"Harbinger," Farkas says, raising his head. "We've come to rid ourselves of the wolf."

Kodlak glances over his shoulder towards his companions before turning back to the Nords before him. "Rise, Companions, and do as you wish. We were merely here to discuss what to do next in our fight against Hircine."

Farkas and Vilkas climb to their feet, and the ghosts step away from the Harbinger's Flame to give them space. Vilkas opens his pack and withdraws two Glenmoril witch heads. He passes one to Farkas, nose wrinkling at the smell. "Are you ready?" he asks his brother.

In response, Farkas throws his head into the fire. His twin immediately falls to the ground, shuddering. A wolf springs from his body, landing beside him, snarling. Vilkas begins to pull out his great-sword, but Farkas was already up and swinging. With three hits, his wolf spirit was dead. Farkas lets out a breath and steps back, turning to him. "Now it's your turn."

Vilkas steps up to the flame, eyes closing. All he had to do was open his hand and he would be rid of his wolf spirit for good. It would never bother him again, and Cry would be safe to get rid of her own. Vilkas releases the head into the flame. Almost like a wave, a splitting pain goes through his whole body and he falls against the stone floor. With a growl, his own wolf leaps out of him, snarling. Vilkas struggled to his feet, pulling out his great-sword. With a single heave, the blade goes through the clear wolf, and it was gone.

Vilkas takes his a deep breath, his mind clear. He could no longer smell Farkas's blood beside him, nor could he hear his heartbeat. He could move freely, and he felt lighter than he had before. Grinning, he turns to his brother. "It's done."

"Your damn right it is!" Farkas exclaims happily. He picks up Vilkas in a hug, laughing. "We did it! And now we can help Cry!"

"What's wrong with Cry?" Kodlak asks as Farkas sets him back down. Vilkas turns to his old Harbinger.

"You don't know? She gave herself to Hircine to keep us safe from him. We came to get rid of our wolves so he couldn't touch us anymore."

"Yeah, and now she can come and get rid of hers," Farkas adds joyfully.

"The Dragonborn has turned to the Blood?" one of the spirits asks, glancing at Kodlak. "What does this mean for us?"

Kodlak looked speechless, as though he couldn't believe what he was hearing. When his companion spoke, his snapped back. Voice grave, he says, "It means only the worst, my friend. Without Cry on our side, I'm afraid we have no hope of winning."

"But she's going to be on your side!" Farkas explains quickly. "She just needs to come here first."

Kodlak looks at him, and then sighs, bowing his head. "I'm afraid we may not have that long, my boy."

Vilkas's eyes narrow at the Harbinger. "What do you mean?"

Kodlak's eyes raise, and lock on him. "Hircine's army is growing. And now that he has Cry on his side, he has nothing to fear in fighting us all at once."

Vilkas was furious. "Why? What makes Cry so special?"

"Think about it, Vilkas!" Kodlak shouts, turning away abruptly. "She's the Dragonborn! That means she has dragon blood inside of her, as well as wolf blood. She's one half human, one quarter dragon, and one quarter wolf. She's the most powerful creature in Skyrim, perhaps in Tamriel. Gods, maybe in Oblivion itself."

Vilkas's heart stops. "That kind of power…"

"Could very well destroy us all, if used in the wrong way," Kodlak finishes quietly. His translucent fist clenches. "If Hircine has control over Cry… May the Divines have mercy."

Without waiting for them to say anything more, Vilkas turns and sprints out of the burial chamber. "Vilkas!" Farkas calls, hurrying after his brother. By the time he reached the top of the Tomb, Vilkas was already out the door. Farkas runs after him, but Vilkas was gone.

Farkas had no clue where he could be going other than Whiterun, however, his twin hadn't run towards Dawnstar. He had gone in the opposite direction. "What's he doing?" Farkas breathes before chasing after him.

* * *

**Well. Shit. That's... That's a thing that's happening. **

**God dammit, Cry. You're better than that! You're a level 35 Nord! I had more faith in you. **

***sigh* And Vilkas has gone crazy. This is just great! **


	7. Chapter 7

**So, let's see. What happened last time? Cry and Vilkas both lost it, right? Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's how it went. **

**Well, let's see how that plays out.**

* * *

"Vilkas!" Farkas calls, cupping his hands around his mouth. His brother was far ahead of him, but Farkas could make out his figure in the snowfall. He waits for his twin to respond, but he doesn't, and Farkas sighs, running through the snow towards him. Vilkas was no longer running from him, but Farkas still had to touch his shoulder to get his attention. "What are you doing?"

"We need to get that dragon to us," Vilkas responds, gazing up at the sky.

"What dragon?" Farkas asks, confused. Vilkas doesn't reply, and his brow furrows. "You mean Cry's dragon? Odahviing?"

"That's his name!" Vilkas exclaims, patting Farkas on the shoulder. "Help me call for him."

"Vilkas, you've gone mad!" Farkas exclaims, backing away from his brother. "We're not Cry; we can't call dragons too us."

Vilkas ignores him and looks up at the sky. "Odahviing!" he shouts. "We need your help! Please!"

Farkas crosses his arms, bowing his head. His brother had finally lost it. "He's not going to come, Vilkas."

"Odahviing!" Vilkas repeats, louder this time.

"You're only going to wear out your voice," Farkas tells him.

"_O…_ _dah viing!" _Vilkas yells, and the word echoes around the cliffs. Farkas fell to the snow at how loud the noise was, and for a moment, it was almost as though Cry was standing beside him instead of his brother.

"Vilkas… How did you do that?" he asks once the noise had faded away.

"I want to get back to my wife," Vilkas mumbles in response as a distant roar could be heard. "I can do anything I want to."

Farkas gazed at his twin, not sure if he should be fearful or impressed. He was going to say something more, but leathery wings sounded above them, and Farkas raised his head to see the red dragon Odahviing circling overhead. He was slowly circling to land, Farkas realizes, as he settles down into the snow before them. "Who calls for me with the power of the Dragonborn?" he growls, voice deep and gravelly.

"The Dragonborn's husband, _dovah_," Vilkas replies steadily. "I need you to take us to Whiterun."

Odahviing laughs. "And why would I do that, _joor?_"

"Because you told the _Dovahkiin_ that you would follow her, protect her," Vilkas reminds him. "The Dragonborn is in trouble. I need to get to her as quickly as possible."

The dragon studies him closely for a long moment. "The _Dovahkiin _is truly in love with you, isn't she? She asked me to take you to her _aavlaas_, her wedding. She wed you."

Vilkas nods. "She did. I love her very much, and this is why I need your help, _dovah._"

Odahviing lets out a long sigh. "I will do it for the _Dovahkiin._ If she truly is in trouble, then we must go. However, I can only carry one of you."

Vilkas glances at his brother, who was already gazing at the ground. "You need to go to her, Vilkas," he says quietly. "She needs you."

"Will you be alright traveling alone?"

Farkas shrugs. "I'll catch a carriage or something. I'll be fine, Vilkas. Get home to her, now." He hurries his brother onto the dragon's back. Vilkas grips his hand momentarily, giving him a look. Farkas smiles encouragingly and pats his knee with his other hand. "Help her, Vilkas."

Vilkas nods. "I will. See you back in Jorrvaskr, brother." He pats Odahviing's neck. "Let's go, _dovah._"

Farkas watches as Vilkas rises up into the sky. Odahviing circles a few times, and flies off in the direction of Whiterun. Farkas waits until the dragon was out of sight, and then he turns back and starts to head towards the Tomb of Ysgramor again. Maybe the ghosts had a way for him to get back to Jorrvaskr quickly. Or maybe he could at least learn what they aimed to do about Hircine.

(*)

After only about an hour of flying, Odahviing lands in the plains outside of Whiterun. "I'm sorry I cannot go further, _Dovahkiin lokalin. _I am afraid that if I do, the guards will try to shoot me down."

Vilkas slides off of the dragon's back. "It's alright, Odahviing. _Nox hi, dovah. _Thank you."

Odahviing bows his head and flaps his wings to get back up in the air. Vilkas starts to sprint towards the Whiterun gates, barreling through them and running through the Plain District to the Wind District. He rushes through the doors of Jorrvaskr into the mead hall to find Tilma sitting alone in a chair, sewing.

"Where's Cry," he demands, starting towards the living quarters.

"She's not down there, if that's what you're thinking," Tilma answers, not turning to him. Vilkas stops mid step and rotates around to look at the old woman. Her frail hands pushed a whale bone needle through the fabric she was holding. He walks over to her and takes one of her hands.

"Tilma, where is my wife?"

Her eyes raise to me his, and that's when he realizes they were wet with tears. "I'm sorry, Vilkas. They left last night, and they haven't come back yet."

"Who left?" he asks, trying to keep his voice calm even though his heart was beating slower with every word the maid said.

"Cry and Aela, Vilkas. They left last night while I was out getting groceries," she tells him, bowing her head over her work. "I knew I shouldn't have left. Cry told me was allowed too, so I-" Tilma cuts off with a sob and begins to cry. "I'm so sorry!"

Vilkas's heart stopped beating fully, and a dull buzzing fills his ears, but he still manages to hug the old woman. "It's alright, Tilma. It's not your fault." He lets her go and back away, still feeling empty. His wife was out there somewhere, with Aela. Normally, that would calm him down, but since recent events had begun, he didn't know how much he could trust the huntress with Cry. He glances towards the back door. "I don't have any clue where to start looking for them."

"You don't have too," someone says. Vilkas and Tilma both turn to see Aela standing in the doorway. Her hair was wild, war paint smeared. Vilkas hurries forward and grabs her by the shoulders.

"Where's Cry?"

She pulls out of his grasp and steps away. Cry was leaning against the cobblestone wall outside of Jorrvaskr, in even worse condition than Aela. Vilkas lets out a strangled noise of relief and goes over to her. "Cry? Love, are you alright?" He reaches out to touch her shoulder, but she snarls at him in an animal like manner, snapping at his hand.

Vilkas withdraws his hand, sadness welling up inside of him. "Oh darling. What has he done to you?"

"Hircine has only shown her what her real form is," Aela replies from behind him. Vilkas turns to see she was leaning against the doorway, arms crossed. "I must say, she's a great hunter."

"You let her go out and hunt even though you know how we feel about this!" Vilkas shouts, stepping up to her in anger.

"I didn't let her fall asleep, did I? The only way she was going to stay awake was if she transformed and hunted!" Aela replies, equally as angry.

"The more she changes the closer Hircine gets to her!" Vilkas yells. "The closer he gets, the bigger the threat she is to all of us!"

"Why?" Aela demands. "What makes her any different from other werewolves?"

"She's not _just_ a werewolf, Aela!" Vilkas tells her. "She's a dragon, too!"

Aela blinks, stepping away from him, anger drifting out of her amber eyes. "She's the Dragonborn. That doesn't make her a dragon."

"Then why can she shout like one, Aela? How does she have that kind of power if she's not some sort of dragon herself?" Vilkas asks, still glaring at her.

"Not a dragon," Cry growls behind him. "Wolf."

Vilkas closes his eyes, pained. "No, Cry, you're not a wolf. At least, you won't be for long." He turns around to face her, holding out his hand. She glares down at it in distrust, baring her teeth like a dog. Like a wolf. Vilkas feels his heart twist, but he persists. "Please, Cry. You need to trust me. It's Vilkas."

She wrinkles her nose at him. "You're no wolf," she hisses after a moment. "You're only a human." She bared her teeth again in a wicked grin. "I eat humans."

Vilkas staggered away from her, truly shocked. He felt like his heart had been ripped out of his chest. She didn't know him, not anymore. Cry crouches down in front of him, but Vilkas doesn't move out of the way. Why should he? Before she could leap at him, Aela intercepts her, pushing her away with inhuman strength.

"No, sister. We don't eat anyone in Jorrvaskr. I already told you this."

"You let her eat people," Vilkas says softly, it finally dawning on him. He turns to Aela. "You let her eat. People."

"Just some bandits we found camping on the plains," Aela replies calmly, still holding Cry back. She strokes her matted hair to calm her down. "They had captives."

"I don't care!" Vilkas explodes, climbing to his feet. "You let my wife eat_ people_."

"Vilkas." Tilma's hand lands lightly on his shoulder. "It's over. What's done is done. What we need to do is get Cry to the Tomb of Ysgramor, before more of her humanity disappears."

"Where's Farkas?" Aela asks, holding Cry to her. Cry's blue-gray gaze remained fixated on Vilkas, and he had to tear his eyes away from her.

"I rode back on a dragon. I wanted to get here as fast as I could. He told me he would come back on a carriage."

"You rode back to Whiterun on a _dragon_?" Aela asks in disbelief.

"Yes. Cry's dragon friend Odahviing. You know, the one that dropped her off at our wedding?" Vilkas pulls off his backpack and roots inside it for a moment to make sure he still had the only remaining witch head still with him. He did, and he sighs, slinging the pack over his shoulder. "Maybe he can help us again."

He starts off towards the gates of Whiterun, waving his hand at Aela. "Come on, and bring Cry."

"What are you going to do?" Aela asks, scooping up Cry in her arms and following after him.

"We're going to go heal my wife," Vilkas responds over his shoulder. _And my heart._

* * *

**D'aww. Odahviing cares about Cry! That's so cutesy. **

**But shit. She's like... Wild, now. An animal. **

**A wolf.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Alright! So, this is a bit later than I had planned, but coming home from vacation will do that. **

**Anyhoo, there's some _Dovahzul _in this chapter. A rough translation is at the end of the chapter in the footnote.**

* * *

"You're back," Kodlak says as Farkas reenters the Tomb of Ysgramor.

"I am. And I want to know what you're going to do now that Cry is on the other side. At least, she is for now," the Companion replies, looking at him. Kodlak turns away, looking over at the other past Harbingers he had with him.

"We need to discuss this," Kodlak says after a moment.

"Obviously," one of the others says, crossing ghostly arms over his chest. "What do you propose we do?"

"I say we kill the Dragonborn!" one says loudly.

"Out of the question," Farkas growls immediately.

"You're not a part of the war, human," the ghost retorts, stepping forward. He wouldn't have been a handsome fellow, even if he had been alive. He had a long, crooked nose and scruffy beard.

"Cry Silverworthy is my best friend. If you kill her, I'll come back in the afterlife and make yours Oblivion," Farkas thundered, towering over the ghost.

"You'll make my afterlife an Oblivion, you say?" the ghost sneered, seeming to stretch until he rose over him. "But can you make all of ours?" He raises his hands, glancing behind him at his companions. "We must kill the Dragonborn! It's the only possible way we can win this war!"

"Yeah!" one shouts.

"Kill the dragonwolf!" another bellowed.

"Kill the dragonwolf!" The roar came from everyone in the room, and Farkas backed away, hitting the wall. "Kill the dragonwolf!"

Farkas glances at Kodlak. "You can't let them do this, Kodlak. Cry was your successor. You chose her specifically. You can't just let them kill her," he begs, searching for a sign in his previous Harbinger's face.

Kodlak didn't say anything, but merely stepped forward. He pulled his ghost warhammer off of his back and raises it high. "Kill the dragonwolf!"

"Kill the dragonwolf!" his followers agree loudly, cheering.

Farkas feels his heart drop into his stomach. Hoping they didn't notice him leave, he sprints out of the burial chamber up the spiral staircase. He hoped Vilkas wasn't already on his way with Cry. If he was… Farkas was torn. He didn't know if he should go back to Jorrvaskr, or stay here and wait. He needed to warn them for sure, but it they weren't at Jorrvaskr, he would have gone all the way back just to have missed them.

What was he supposed to do? Farkas bit his finger, gazing towards Dawnstar and back at the Tomb. Stay, or go? Go or stay? "Augh!" he cries, falling into the snow. "My head hurts!"

After a moment of struggling with his morals and his sensibility, he decides to hide out in a cave nearby and wait. Vilkas had been dead set on bringing Cry here, and his twin didn't change his mind easily. He would be coming with Cry soon, whether on foot, on horseback, or on dragonback. All he needed to do was wait.

He scrambled away from the Tomb towards the cave, quickly so he wouldn't freeze. He ducks inside and huddles near the entrance to wait. _Hurry, Vilkas. I don't know how long we have._

(*)

"I cannot carry you both, _Dovahkiin lokaliin,_" Odahviing says ruefully, gazing towards his master.

"Please, Odahviing. You must try. She's losing the only part of humanity she has left as we speak," Vilkas begs, gesturing towards his wife. She had stood up on her own, but cowered behind Aela, away from the dragon. She didn't trust her friend any more than she trusted Vilkas.

The dragon lowers his head. "I cannot. I am sorry."

Vilkas feels his heart fall, whatever remained of it anyway, and he turns away from the dragon to look at his wife. She bared her teeth at him from behind Aela, and he felt his shoulders droop. Whatever remained of the woman he had fallen in love with was hidden behind her wolfish manner. There was no way to reach her until they made it to the Tomb of Ysgramor.

He turns to face the dragon again. "We may have to risk sending her on her own," he says softly.

"What?" Aela asks, astonished. She pushes Cry back as she tries to pounce on a deer grazing nearby while talking to Vilkas, "You can't trust her to go on her own, Vilkas. She's not herself anymore. She won't know what she's doing. And if she runs into any people on the way, who knows what she'll do."

"We can't wait, Aela. If we go on foot, she'll be gone completely by the time we get there. For all we know, Hircine is whispering to her right now." Vilkas looks at his wife, who had stopped struggling against Aela's grasp and had gone limp. "Farkas might still be there."

"And you think she won't try to kill Farkas?" Aela accuses, straightening the Harbinger to a standing position. "She tried to kill _you_, Vilkas."

Vilkas glances down at the ground, trying to think. Aela was right; in her current state, Cry would have no way of knowing what she was doing at the Tomb of Ysgramor once she and Odahviing got there. They may not even get her on the dragon whatsoever. It seemed the only choice they had was to travel on foot.

He's about to point this out when Odahviing rumbles, "You say her humanity is almost gone."

Vilkas nods, gesturing to the Companion. "Can't you tell?"

"I can tell," the dragon murmurs. He shuffles closer to Cry and Aela. Cry skitters behind the huntress, cowering. She was scared of the dragon, Vilkas realizes. "Perhaps we can bring out her inner dragon and overpower the wolf," Odahviing goes on after studying her for a moment.

"Hircine is scared of dragons," Vilkas says. He turns to Odahviing. "The dragon scares the wolf."

"So we need to scare her?" Aela asks, tilting her head.

"No," Vilkas responds. He takes a step towards his wife, who was still gazing up at Odahviing in fear. "She needs to scare herself."

"And how do you think she's going to accomplish that?" Aela queries. "She can barely think straight."

"The real Cry is in there somewhere," Vilkas breathes, staring at her closely. "We need to give her something that will bring her out."

"Move," Odahviing orders suddenly. Vilkas turns to him, surprised, but Odahviing was looking down at Cry. "Out of the way, _joor._ I have a plan."

"Move, Aela," Vilkas says. He takes Aela's arm and pulls her away a few feet. Cry whimpers and drops to all fours, hiding her head under her hands. Odahviing rises above her, looking down.

"_Dovahkiin, hi lost sizaan hinmaar._"

"What is he saying to her?" Aela whispers as Cry uncovers her head and gazes up at the dragon with wide eyes. Vilkas can only shrug. He had no clue.

"_Hi los nid lingrahiik dovah. Hi los sniveling mal grohiik dokraas. Hi lost paak dovah reyliik,_" Odahviing goes on fearsomely. Cry's fearful gaze turned into a glare of defiance, and she sat up on her knees.

"Am no wolf pup!" she growls angrily. "Am dragon!"

Odahviing glares back at her. "_Gevahzen nii._"

That much Vilkas knew. "Prove it," he whispers.

"_Zaan ahst zey, grohiik dokraas,"_ Odahviing goes on. _"Gevahzen way zey tol his los dovah!_"

"Prove to me that you are a dragon," Vilkas murmurs to Aela.

Cry scrambled to her feet, setting them firmly on the ground. Her fists clenched at her sides, and Vilkas leaned forward. She was about to Shout. She had to be. He expected her to let loose a _Yol Toor Shul,_ or a _Fus Roh Dah_, but instead, she howls right in Odahviing's face.

Vilkas turns away, all hope gone. "It's over."

The dragon, however, was laughing. "_Kruh med grohiik! Hi truly los grohiik dokraas!" _

"Am not!" Cry screams.

"_Ruz zaan, grohiik dokraas. Genun zey hi los Dovahkiin!"_ Odahviing roars.

Cry bows her head, and Vilkas could tell she was shaking. Her whole body visibly moved with rage. "I do not need to Shout, Odahviing," she snarls. She raises her head and glares at the dragon. "I am the Dragonborn."

Vilkas thought he saw the dragon smile. "You are."

Cry lifts her head to the sky. Vilkas thought she was going to howl, but instead she shouts, _"Fus… Roh Dah!"_

The shout echoed across the plain for miles, and was still echoing when Vilkas and Aela stepped forward. Cry didn't look at either of them, merely took Vilkas's pack without a word and climbed onto Odahviing's back. "Get me to the Tomb of Ysgramor," she growls to the dragon. "Now."

Vilkas watches his wife rise into the air on the back of the dragon, and for whatever reason he felt the same way as he did when he had watched her fly off to Skuldafn on his back. He had the dreadful feeling that she may not be coming back. He turns to Aela. "We need to go to the Tomb, too."

"What?" his fellow Companion asks. "Why?"

"Just a feeling," he answers, starting towards the mountain range that was in their way.

* * *

**Right! So, my dragon is a little rough, but if I'm correct, this is the general lines of what Odahviing said to Cry:**_  
_

Dragonborn, you have lost yourself. You are no longer a dragon. You are a sniveling little wolf puppy. You have shamed the dragon race.  
Prove it.  
Shout at me, wolf puppy. Prove to me that you are dragon.  
Howling like a wolf! You truly are a wolf puppy.  
Then shout, wolf puppy. Show me you are Dragonborn!

**Like I said, this may not be the right way, but this is what he was saying to her. At least, this is what I wanted him to be saying. Thanks for reading!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Shit. I need to get on my game. I swear, after I upload this, I am going to push out five chapters at least!**

**Okay, maybe not five...**

* * *

Farkas heard the sound of boots in the snow, and his eyes fly open. "Uh oh."

Before he could do anything, he was grabbed and dragged from the cave. He was thrown into the snow, and someone sat on top of him. "He didn't leave, Kodlak," the ghost atop him says.

His old Harbinger now turned enemy appears in his vision, and he tsks his tongue at him. Farkas struggled against the weight of the ghostly Companion sitting on him. How could a ghost weight so damn much? He gazes up desperately at Kodlak. "Why are you letting them do this?"

"Cry is a danger to us all, Farkas," Kodlak responds. He shakes his head. "I'm sorry, Farkas, but the only way we will win this war is if Cry is dead."

"You won't be able to kill her!" Farkas yells as he begins to walk away. The ghost Companion on him stands and yanks him to his feet. "With all that power, Cry will be too strong for you! All of you will die before you can kill her."

Kodlak stops walking, and for a moment, Farkas thought he was going to turn around. Instead, the ghost Harbinger waves his hand. "Tie him up and put him in the Tomb. If we're lucky, we'll be able to make it too Jorrvaskr before the dragonwolf starts her own march."

"Tie him up!" someone shouts, and Farkas's arms are yanked roughly behind his back and tied together with a leather throng.

"Cry cannot be defeated!" he screams as a few ghosts drag him towards the Tomb. "She'll kill you all! I know she will!"

Kodlak paid him no mind and pointed his warhammer towards Dawnstar. "Tonight, we march on Jorrvaskr! I know that many of you think of it as your home still, and fighting the people inside will be like fighting your own brothers! But they are not! They are conspiring against our cause. No, they are not your brothers, my friends. They are the dragonwolf's brothers, and for that, they are traitors to the Companions. The true Companions!"

"Yeah!" a few cheered in response.

"Kill the dragonwolf!" someone else called.

"We will win back Jorrvaskr for Ysgramor, who led us from Atmora all those years ago! For him, and the original 500 Companions! We will root out the dragonwolf from her own den and reclaim it as our own!" Kodlak shouts, holding up his warhammer with both hands. "We will kill the dragonwolf!"

"No!" Farkas's cry was drown out by a rally of "kill the dragonwolf"s. Whatever else Kodlak said was shut out because the Companions pulling him along through the snow threw him into the Tomb of Ysgramor. Before he could scramble to his feet, the door was shut, and Farkas merely rammed his shoulder into stone. "Open the damn door!" he orders, shoving against it again.

His command was only met by war cries which eventually faded away to nothing. Farkas fell to the floor, whimpering. Why hadn't he just gone back to Jorrvaskr? He could've been half a day ahead of the ghost army, and even if Cry wasn't there, he still could've been helping to fight them off. He rolls onto his side, facing away from the door and struggles against his bindings. Unfortunately, the ghost had tied it extremely tight, and it was a lost cause.

Farkas sighs and gazes up at the statue of Ysgramor, Wruuthrad secured tightly in his stone hands. "What did we do?" he asks, as though the first leader, only leader, of the Companions would answer.

The stone eyes only looked at him blankly, unfeeling. Uncaring. "This isn't right," Farkas goes on, even though Ysgramor wasn't listening. He was mainly doing it for himself, as a comfort thing. "Cry doesn't deserve to die. Besides, she's coming to the Tomb right now to cure herself. I know she must be. Why aren't you trying to stop them?"

The statue didn't reply. Farkas closed his eyes tightly, not wanting to look up at the leader who seemed to have forgotten about his Companions. All of them. "If you won't help us," Farkas sighs, "we'll have to help ourselves."

(*)

"Thank you, Odahviing," Cry says, not looking at the red dragon as she slides from his back into the snow. Her entire body was on fire with an anger that she didn't know how to describe. It was like she was being burned by a dragon, but she _was_ the dragon that was burning her. Odahviing rose up into the air behind her as she heads to the Tomb, the snow not slowing her at all like it would have before.

She reached the door and pushed it open, almost tripping over a body lying on the ground. She stopped herself just before she went to the floor. "Gods above!" she exclaims, staggering away. Angrily, she lifts her head to glare at whoever was on the floor.

Farkas gaped back at her in surprise. "Cry! You're here!" he marveled, eyes shining.

"I am here," she agrees, starting for the secret entrance to the burial chamber where the Flame was located. "And I need to do what I came here for."

She steps over him, but he grabs her ankle before she can start down the steps. "Cry, there's something I need to tell you before you change," he says, when she gazes down at him in confusion.

"What?"

Farkas swallows and turns his gray gaze to her. "Kodlak and his army are marching on Jorrvaskr."

Cry's heart stops. "What?" she hisses when the room stopped spinning.

"They know about you," he replies weakly, sitting up on his knees. "They think you've sided with Hircine. They want to kill you, and take back Jorrvaskr at the same time."

"I'm not there," Cry breathes, a brief moment of relief passing over her. "If I'm not there, they have no need to attack." Farkas looks away, and Cry's eyebrows furrow, worry returning. "What?"

"They believe that the living Companions have sided with you," Farkas explains. "They are blinded by the power you poses, being half human, part dragon, and part wolf. They believe that until you are dead, everyone is in trouble."

"They want to kill everyone in Jorrvaskr so it's for sure I don't have any followers left," Cry understands. She staggers backwards a bit, whatever power she had previously felt from the dragon gone. "Everyone is as good as dead."

"Not unless you get back to Jorrvaskr before they do and show them you are not a wolf!" Farkas exclaims. He fights against his bindings and climbs to his feet. "Odahviing. He'll take you back before they'll get there!"

"I cannot ask Odahviing any more favors," Cry tells him, shaking her head. "Between me and Vilkas, he has flown more miles in two days than he will in a week." She glances towards the stairs. "No, I refuse to ask that of him."

"How else will Jorrvaskr be protected? You'll never make it back before the army," Farkas shouts. He pulls against his restraints again, and Cry snaps them apart with a fingernail.

"We'll just have to run very fast," she replies, heading for the stairs.

Farkas stands and huffs, straightening his armor. "I don't get why you don't just ask Odahviing for help," he grumbles as he goes after her.

"Because I like to do things the complicated way!" she replies from the bottom of the stairs.

Farkas shakes his head. "I'll never understand why."

* * *

**So, yeah. This chapter was a bit short, but you know. It's getting intense. And hey, Cry _does_ like to do things the hard way. **

**And she does have a point. Odahviing must be tired as hell. **

**Sorry. Tired as Oblivion.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Yay. More short chapters. Whoo!**

* * *

Cry walked down the last step and stood on the upper level of the burial chamber. The last time she had been there was when they had helped Kodlak get rid of his own wolf spirit. And now, she was getting rid of hers. For a second time.

_Cry, love, please think about what you are doing,_ Hircine pleads with her. A pain goes through her arm, but it wasn't nearly as bad as it had been before. The dragon was much stronger now.

"I don't need to think about it," Cry growls in response. "I don't _want_ to be a wolf."

"Cry?" Farkas had reached the bottom of the steps and was standing behind her. "Just get it over with so we can get out of here."

"I know," Cry replies. She walks down the stone stairs to the basin in the center of the room. She reaches for the bag on her back and pulls it off of her shoulder. Rooting around inside, she finds the Glenmoril witch head wrapped in the brown parchment. Slowly, she pulls the paper off of the nasty thing and holds it above the fire.

Another pain goes through her arm. "Augh," she mutters, hand holding the witch head moving away from the fire. Farkas hurries over to her and takes the witch's head from her before she could drop it on the floor. He glances at her worriedly.

"Are you okay?"

She bites back curse as another sting goes through the scar and nods. "Yes, I'm fine. Give it to me." She holds out her left arm, the arm without the scar, and Farkas passes it back to her. She puts her hand back over the flames.

_Wait! Please! I have an offer for you! _Hircine says suddenly.

Cry hesitates. "What kind of offer?" she mutters through clenched teeth, glancing at Farkas from the corner of her eye.

She hears Hircine let out a relieved sigh. _One that you won't pass up, I guarantee. _

Cry is about to respond, but then a thought flashes in her mind. It was an image of Jorrvaskr going up into flames, with yells of panic and pain coming from the inside, while she stood off to the side, Hircine holding her forearm. Quickly, she shakes her head and repossions her hand above the fire. "I'm done playing cards with Daedra."

_Don't. I can help you keep Jorrvaskr safe. That's what you want, isn't it? _Hircine asks desperately. _I can make sure Kodlak's army stays away from you and your Companions. _

Cry looks over at Farkas one more time. He was holding out his hands to the side, obviously confused. Finally, she takes her hand away from over the fire and passes the head to Farkas again. "What do you have in mind?"

(*)

Vilkas scrambled onto a rock and gazed over the snowy plain, blinking against the snow falling from the sky. He was mainly looking for any sign of Cry or Farkas, but he was also keeping an eye out for wolves. Werewolves, more accurately.

Aela squinted up at him. "See anything?" she calls.

"Not a thing," Vilkas replies, not taking his eyes off of the empty landscape. "Unless snow is a thing."

"Well, technically…" Aela begins, but Vilkas holds out a hand in her direction, eyes narrowing. Aela gazed up at him, brow furrowed. "What is it?"

"I think…" The Companions eyes widened, and he jumped from the bolder her was standing on and started sprinting through the snow. Aela watched him run for a moment before she spotted the two figures in the distance, staggering through the snow.

She started after Vilkas, her wolf blood making her faster than him, and so she made it to Cry and Farkas first. Before she even reached them, however, she could smell the wolf. She stopped dead two yards away, eyes fixed on Cry. "You're still a wolf." It wasn't a question.

"Please, don't say anything," Cry begs, looking over her shoulder to Vilkas, who was still running towards them. "I'll explain it all to you later. I need your help."

Aela was going to reply, tell her that she wasn't going to lie for her to Vilkas, but he ran up to her shoulder just then, breathing heavily. "Cry," he says once he had caught his breath.

"Vilkas," Cry replies stiffly. She clearly remembered what she had tried to do earlier that day.

"Did you take care of it?" Vilkas questions, nodding to the bag hanging from her shoulder. Aela fixed Cry with a steady amber stare, expecting Cry to tell them truth.

"Yes, I did," the Harbinger replies. "I'm no longer a wolf."

Aela lets out a breath of disappointment. She would stay quiet for now. There was no reason to start something between the two. Not now, anyway.

Vilkas's gaze skirted Cry's right arm, clearly searching for the scar. Cry knew this, and she held up her arm. Aela wanted to see a scar, to show Vilkas the truth so that she wouldn't have too, but Cry's arm was bare. "See?" she asks cheerily. "Clean. All gone."

_What in Oblivion is going on?_ Aela thinks. She glances at Farkas, wondering if he knew. It was clear in the way he was forcing a grin that he did.

"We need to get back to Jorrvaskr," Cry says after a moment. "Kodlak's ghost army is marching there to take it back. They aim to kill everyone. They want me dead."

"They're calling her the dragonwolf," Farkas adds, "and they think that the living Companions are standing behind her. They believe that if they kill us, she won't have an army anymore."

"Then we need to get back to Jorrvaskr," Vilkas exclaims, turning tail and starting back the direction they had come. "Let's go; maybe we'll get there before they do."

Farkas looked at Cry, worry evident in his gray eyes. Cry smiles at him and grips his hand momentarily. "I'll be fine," she whispers. "I just need to talk to Aela."

Farkas nods and pulls away to walk with his brother. Aela falls back with Cry, several feet behind the men so they wouldn't be able to hear, and hisses, "Tell me."

Cry lets out a breath. "Hircine told me that if I stayed a wolf, he would leave me alone, free to change whenever I wanted."

"And you believed him?" Aela exclaims. When Farkas gives her a warning looking over his shoulder, she lowers her voice again. "He's a Daedra, Cry. Even I don't trust him, and I _like_ being a werewolf."

"I know," Cry replies. "And that's why I'm trusting you with this." Her steps falter briefly, and she sighs. "Aela, listen. This is going to sound really, really bad. But I _like_ all my power. I enjoy being a human, and a wolf and a dragon all at the same time. It makes me feel strong."

Aela understood that much. That was one of the reasons she liked being a werewolf herself, because she had _power_. But what she didn't understand was how Cry could _keep_ her power when she hated it so much. "But you hate being a wolf, C."

"I do," Cry agrees. "But I need to stay a wolf in order to help Jorrvaskr. Hircine told me that his kind will help keep us safe if I stayed a wolf."

"What, so now we're on the werewolves' sides?" Aela queries, sarcastic. "I thought you were _fighting_ them."

"We are," Cry tells her. "Just, shut up and listen, okay? I'm staying a wolf to be on the inside. Hircine's chosen me as his second. He's going to tell me everything. If I can explain this to Kodlak, he'll leave Jorrvaskr alone, _and_ we'll win the war."

Aela stares at the snow as she walks, letting this sink in. Cry believed that if she tells Kodlak her plan, he'll leave Jorrvaskr alone. Plus, since she was "buddy-buddy" with Hircine, he would tell her all his plans. She would then be able to pass them over to Kodlak, and thus win.

Aela had to admit, it was a pretty good plan. But she saw one flaw. "What will Hircine do when he realizes that you're giving Kodlak information?" she asks Cry. "Won't he get really, really angry?"

"He can't touch me," Cry replies, looking forward.

"And why is that?" Aela glances at her. "What's to keep him from breaking his deal off?"

Cry smirks. "Hircine is afraid of dragons."

As she finishes speaking, a dragon roar could be heard in the distance. Cry's smile grew bigger, but Aela was worried. "And what about Vilkas?"

Cry's grin disappeared, and her eyes turned to the ground. "I don't want him mixed up in all this. He doesn't need to know." She looks over at Aela. "You will keep it quiet, won't you?"

Aela sighs, looking towards her fellow Circle member walking ahead of her. It was him, or her Harbinger. She turns her gaze back to Cry. "I won't say anything, I promise."

Cry wrapped one arm around her in a hug. "Thank you," she whispers softly. "I won't forget this."

Aela returned the hug awkwardly, eyes fixed on Vilkas's back. "You better not."

* * *

**Why am I physically unable to write longer chapters? I dun't get it! **

**Ah well. Cry's decision to not tell Vilkas is probably gonna bite her in the ass eventually. Yeah. It probably will. **

**Shout out to the follower that appeared on Saturday? Maybe? I don't know. But thanks to all of your who keep reviewing as well! It means a lot when you say you can't wait for an update. It also gets me off my ass and provokes me into writing! Two birds with one stone there; praise and accomplishment. See you on Friday!**


	11. Chapter 11

**So, I was gonna go get my learner's permit for my driver's license, but the line at the friggin' DMV was out the damn door! So, here I am, uploading a chapter instead. Yay. **

* * *

"Hey Torvar!" Athis calls from the mead hall table as the Nord comes up the stairs from the living quarters. "Come join our game; I'm running out of Septims to steal."

"You're not stealing anything," Ria grumbles to him. "I know you're broke, so I'm letting you win."

"Yeah, yeah," the dark elf mutters. "You wish that's what was happening. Just admit it, Ria; I'm better than you at cards."

"I'll never admit something that's not true," the younger whelp growls in response.

"How about we fight about it, huh?" Athis taunts, lowering his cards and cracking his knuckles. Ria raises her eyes to meet his, grinning.

"Sounds like a plan to me."

They both stand and walk to the end of the mead hall. Athis raises his fist and starts to hop from foot to foot, shaking out his hands. "Alright, woman," he grunts. "Hit me."

Ria stares at him, smirking, and crosses her arms. "How am I supposed to hit you when you're dancing around like a fool?"

Athis stops, left foot in air. Glaring at her, he says, "Just punch me, damn you."

"Alright," Ria agrees, and she takes a swing at the elf. Athis easily ducks and sends a punch to her chest. It was pretty weak, however, and merely dinged off of her armor. Ria barely staggered, laughing. "Damn, you're horrible."

Athis growls and takes another shot at her, Ria back steps away from him, right into Njada. "What are you two doing?" the warrior asks, lifting an eyebrow.

"Dueling," Athis responds, trying to hit Ria again. "Why?"

"You know the rule," Njada replies, taking a few steps away from Ria as she backed up again. "No fighting without any of the Circle in the house."

"Yeah well, what they don't know won't hurt them," Ria says, ducking beneath another swing and sending a swift kick to Athis's ankle. The elf mutters a curse and stumbles away from her, swiping a bottle of ale from Torvar as he approaches.

"Come on, guys," the Nord says, reaching for his bottle. "Act like Companions. If you don't, you'll never be made into true Companions."

"Torvar is right, for once," Njada agrees. She glares at both Athis and Ria. "If you two start fighting, I'm going to tell Cry when she gets back."

"Go ahead," Athis mumbles in reply. "She won't care, since she's not really in touch with what's going on around her right now."

Njada was going to speak up in defense of her Harbinger when suddenly there were screams from outside Jorrvaskr. All of the whelps immediately raced towards the doors, grabbing weapons from racks along the way. As they burst out into Whiterun, they were met by a row of pale, translucent men marching towards their home.

Beside Njada, Athis took a stance, two daggers pointed towards the men. "Who are you?" the dark elf demands.

As they got closer, Njada's eyes widened. "K-Kodlak?"

She heard the gasps of her fellow whelps as they recognized their old Harbinger. Kodlak was standing in the front line of this mass of men, ghost men it seemed. He held up a wisp-like warhammer and pointed it to Jorrvaskr. "You see that, men?" he shouts. "That is our rightful home, and the dragonwolf has taken it from us!"

Njada glances at Athis. "Dragonwolf?" When the dark elf shrugs, she turns back to the army. "What do you mean by dragonwolf, Kodlak? Of course any ghosts of Companions past are welcome in the halls of Jorrvaskr."

Kodlak paid her no mind. "And now we are back to take what it ours!" The ghosts behind him shouted their agreements, and Kodlak turned to the living Companions standing before Jorrvaskr. "Kill them all."

"What?!" Njada exclaims as the ghosts advance towards them. Just before they made it to the top of the steps, she held up her own weapon. "Do not let them into Jorrvaskr!"

Her fellow whelps let out cauterwauls before leaping into battle. Njada gazed around in shock as weapons went through ghosts, and dead Companions vanished into thin air. She felt a sting on her arm and turned, swinging her sword. The blade when through a ghostly neck, and the Companion disappeared.

Njada jumped into the battle, swinging her sword blindly. She wasn't sure what was happening exactly, but nobody, not even dead Companions, attacked her home.

(*)

Vilkas heard the screams of panic in Whiterun before he even made it through the gates. With one look at his fellow Companions, they all sprinted into the city and ran straight towards Jorrvaskr, meeting only a battle between the city guard, four whelps, and an army of ghost Companions. "Stop!" Cry roars above the sounds of battle cries and painful sounding screeches from ghosts as they were slashed and stabbed.

When no one heard her, she ran through the thickest of the battle and stood before Jorrvaskr. Vilkas watched her gaze around at the fighters, but he could no longer hear what she was shouting. Still, the battling did not halt, and Cry's eyes closed, and her head lowered. Without warning, she raises her face to the sky and shouts, "_Fus… Roh Dah!"_

That was enough. Immediately, any battles broke apart and everyone stepped away from one another. When one of the ghosts caught sight of her, she pointed her weapon. "The dragonwolf is here!"

"Kill the dragonwolf!" The cry raises from the other ghost Companions, and they start forward. Cry sighs and lets out a "_Yol… Toor Shul!"_

A wall of fire sprang up between her and the ghosts, and they all had to stop, unable to pass through it. Cry waits for them to quiet down, and then says, "Where is Kodlak?"

"Here." The old Harbinger steps out of the crowd and walks to the front. Cry's gaze rests on him, and she holds out her arms.

"Why?"

"You destroyed the reason I made you my successor," Kodlak mutters in response, unable to meet her gaze. "You turned to the blood."

"I was forced," Cry replies. She moves her eyes off of him and looks around at the other ghosts. "In order to protect my Companions, I gave myself to Hircine. In order to do my duty as Harbinger, I took the blood. Would any of you done anything different?"

Muttered response come from the ghosts, and Vilkas watches as one steps forward to Kodlak's side. "Just give the word, and we kill her," he mutters into his ear.

Kodlak contemplates Cry, the fire wall slowly lowering before her. Vilkas held his breath. After a moment, he says, loud enough for his followers to hear, "We will hear what the dragonwolf has to say."

"What I have to say," Cry replies, "is not meant to be heard by all." Her eyes dart to Aela. "I wish to speak with you alone."

When this was met with only angry shouts of complaint and obnoxious calls, Kodlak raises his voice to be heard. "And why should I trust you, Cry? You betrayed me."

"If it will ease your thoughts," Cry tells him, "you may bring two of your most trusted followers. They need to be good at keeping secrets."

Kodlak glances at the man to his right, who nods once. He turns back to Cry. "Agreed. But only if you bring two of your own."

"Very well." Cry turns to her Circle. Vilkas straightens himself, waiting for his name to be called. "Aela, Farkas, come. We have a parlay to discuss."

Vilkas's heart skips a beat, and he follows Aela and Farkas forward, grabbing Cry's arm gently.

"Why?"

Cry didn't meet his eyes. "Stay out here and make sure they don't start fighting again." She pulls away from him and opens the door, smiling at Kodlak and the two he had chosen, and man and a woman. "Welcome home."

"Don't," Kodlak warns. "Not yet."

He pushes by her into Jorrvaskr, and his companions follow. Cry nods to Aela and Farkas, and they head in after them. Before Cry can go in as well, Vilkas says, "Cry, please." She pauses, and he goes on, "Don't do this to me."

"Keep things under control," was her only response, and then she disappeared inside.

Vilkas gazed at the door even after it closed, and then he heard a sword hit against steel. Quickly, he whipped around and saw Torvar sword to sword with one of the ghost Companions. "Enough," he growls angrily, storming over to them and pushing against the two swords. The two males back away from one another, but continued to glare.

Vilkas turned to address everyone. "Until Cry and Kodlak come back outside," he says loudly, "I am in charge. And I want you all to stop fighting. You do not fight at a parlay."

"How would you know?" one of the city guards asks defiantly, glaring up at him. "The Companions never bother to help with war."

"And I want the city guard to go back to their own business," Vilkas adds once the guard was finished talking. "Now, who has injuries that need taking care of?"

_Because apparently, I'm not good enough for anything else._

(*)

Farkas followed Kodlak and his men, or, man and woman, down into the living quarters, and then to the Harbinger's chambers. Cry closed the doors once they were all in and gestures to the chairs at the table.

"We'll stand," Kodlak tells her. She merely dips her head and folds her hands together. "Talk."

"Let me first explain to you what it means, now that I'm a werewolf again," Cry replies.

"How about _I_ explain it?" Kodlak's woman hisses. "It means you're a smelly, no good hound who only thinks about killing and eating."

"Cry, Farkas, Aela, this one of my predecessors, Tenla," Kodlak tells them.

"Redguard," Aela comments approvingly.

"I was," Tenla agrees. "But now I'm dead."

"That doesn't take away your race," Aela responds.

"Enough," the unnamed man growls. "Let's just get this over with. Tell us what you will."

"And this is Benolak Hand-Eye," Kodlak says. "He was a Companion who was offered a position in the Circle, but he refused to take the blood."

Cry nods a greeting before she turns her eyes back to Kodlak. "I understand that you are angry with me. Before I came back here, I was on my way to the Tomb of Ysgramor to remove the wolf spirit."

"Which you guys locked me in, by the way," Farkas comments. When Cry glances at him in warning, he looks away. "I'll shut up."

Cry gazes back at the ghosts before them. "However, Farkas explained to me what you were planning on doing. As Harbinger, I knew I couldn't let Jorrvaskr go without a fight. I was going to first dispel myself of the blood, but Hircine stopped me, and gave me an offer."

"You're still making deals with that Daedra?" Kodlak growls, fists clenching.

"Not for the reasons you are thinking, Harbinger," Cry assures. She holds out her arm. "Look. The scar of my betrayal is gone."

"So you are no longer wolf?" Tenla queries, tilting her head.

"No, I am still a wolf," Cry replies easily. When all three ghosts cursed at her, she holds out her hands. "But I am still a wolf for the sake of the war."

"How can you being on their side possibly help us?" Benolak snarls, glaring at her. His hand reaches for his sword, and Farkas steps forward, prepared to fight.

Cry puts her arm out in front of him and says, "Because I am now Hircine's second in command. He's going to tell me all his plans."

"Why does this matter? You are not on our side, either," Kodlak mutters, putting a hand on Tenla's shoulder to calm her down.

"I never switched sides, Kodlak," Cry replies softly. "I've always been on yours."

"What is it you're aiming to do, dragonwolf?" Tenla asks harshly. "And you best explain quickly."

"Hircine does not know that I am still with you," Cry explains. "I can tell you any plans that he tells me, and therefore we can stop him before this gets any worse, maybe even finish this for good. With me as a wolf, I'm on the inside."

Kodlak glances at his companions briefly, clearly thinking about this. Farkas steps back to stand level with Aela, a few inches behind Cry. He glances at his fellow Circle member, eyebrow raised. Aela shrugs, signifying she had no idea if they were going to agree to this.

"I understand your plan, Cry," Kodlak murmurs at last. His eyes meet hers. "But what's to stop Hircine from forcing you to change any time he wants?"

"The dragon," Cry replies. She pats her chest. "It's stronger than ever, now that it has to fight a wolf for control of me. It will keep Hircine at bay if he decides he wants to play a game."

"Show them, Cry," Farkas says softly. Cry glances at him from over her shoulder. "Show them that you're not a true werewolf anymore."

"Farkas," Cry warns, but the other four had already heard him.

"What do you mean, not a true werewolf anymore?" Aela asks, looking at her Harbinger. "I thought you didn't get rid of the blood."

Cry sighs and bows her head. "The dragon does not allow me to turn into a complete werewolf. I can only make half the transformation."

"What do you mean, Cry?" Kodlak asks, eyes narrowing.

Cry's head lifts. "Turn around please. All of you." Farkas and Aela immediately do as she bids, and Farkas hears her say, "Please. This is embarrassing enough. I don't need you to watch me take my clothes off as well."

He hears shuffling, and then the clanking of Cry's armor as she pulls it off. After a moment, he hears a snarl and then he turns back around. Standing in Cry's place was a large, honey colored wolf. Not a werewolf, but an actual wolf, bigger than the normal size, but still a wolf. He had seen this before, back in the Tomb of Ysgramor, when she had changed there.

Kodlak and his companions gaped at the wolf before them, clearly amazed. "She's not a werewolf," Benalok whispers after a moment.

"No, she's not," Farkas agrees. He squats down next to Cry and puts an arm over her broad, furry shoulders. "But she is still a wolf."

"She's was right," Kodlak says, glancing at his two. "The dragon does not allow her to transform fully."

Wolf-Cry whimpers, and Farkas nods. "Turn around please."

This time, there is no hesitation from the three, and Farkas turns as well. There's another pause, and then Cry's armor clanks again. "Okay, I'm dressed," she says after a moment, and they all turn back around.

She holds out her arms to the sides. "See? Not a real werewolf. Just a wolf."

"That's amazing," Tenla breathes. She reaches forward and touches Cry's arm. "Are you even real?"

"Realer than you, probably," Cry replies, smiling. The Redguard lowers her hand and steps back. Cry turns to Kodlak, sizing him up. "So… Will you side with me?"

Kodlak exchanges looks with the other ghosts, before turning back to Cry. "On one condition."

"What's that?" Cry questions. "Anything at all."

"You must give up the blood once Hircine is gone for good," he tells her.

Cry nods immediately. "Of course. With him gone, who knows if there will be werewolves anymore, anyway?"

Kodlak merely smiles. "You're not a werewolf."

Cry bites her lip and bows her head. "Understandable."

Kodlak sighs and turns to his companions. "Let's go. We have an army to pull back."

"No one else can know," Cry tells them before they could leave. "Especially not Vilkas."

Farkas watches as Kodlak gazes at her knowingly. "I understand. He won't hear it from any of my men. Or women," he adds when Tenla gives him a look.

Cry nods, grateful, and the ghosts head out of the Harbinger's quarters. Cry lets out a breath and falls into a chair at the table. "I can't believe that worked," she says, putting her head into her hands.

"You did well, Harbinger," Aela tells her. "But why didn't you tell me that you could do that?"

"It was supposed to be a secret," Cry growls, glaring at Farkas through her fingers.

The Companion shrugs. "I thought it would help."

Cry stands so fast he didn't see her move, and then she was hugging him tightly. "Yeah, it did," she agrees.

Farkas clears his throat, breath catching. "H-Hey, C, can't breathe," he gasps. She releases her grip and smiles guiltily. Farkas shakes his head. "You're stronger than me now."

"Damn right!" she says, laughing.

"Hey." They all turn to see Vilkas standing in the doorway. He gives all three a look. "What did I miss, since Cry left me out of it all?"

The Harbinger turned away from him, and so Aela explained, "Kodlak agreed to a newly reformed truce."

There's a short silence in which Cry shrank away from Vilkas's gaze, backing into Farkas. Finally, his twin nods. "Good."

"Hey, how about we go check on the whelps, huh?" Farkas suggests.

"Good idea," Aela agrees immediately. She walks over to Vilkas and takes his arm. "Come on."

Vilkas studies Cry a moment longer before turning and allowing Aela to pull him along. Farkas wraps an arm around Cry briefly, giving her a hug. "Why don't you just tell him?"

"He'll get angry," Cry whispers in response. "And he'll want to try and protect me somehow, maybe even become a wolf himself." She turns and lifts her eyes to Farkas's. "And I've only got one more witch head."

"If he did do that," Farkas says suddenly, "would you give it to him?"

Cry reaches up and hugs him around the neck momentarily. "Hopefully it won't come to that." She releases him and starts towards the doors. "Come on."

Farkas sighs and follows her, letting her go without any more questions, even though his mind was swirling with them.

* * *

**Oh shit! Vilkas appears to be a little butt-hurt. Well, I can't say I blame him; he is Cry's husband after all. **

**Then again, he doesn't know about Cry's little secret. Her** _**big**_** secret, I should say...**_  
_

**In other news: new followers and you guys being cuties as always. Thanks for that. **

**:]**


	12. Chapter 12

Vilkas watches Cry from across the mead hall. She was sitting with Kodlak and Farkas, as well as one of Kodlak's men. His eyes narrowed when she laughed loudly at something Farkas said, and he turned away with a huff.

Someone sat down beside him. "You know," Aela said, "she's waiting for you to go talk with her. She missed you, and she feels really bad about earlier."

"If she wants to apologize, she can come over here herself," Vilkas replied, taking a long drink from his tankard. He lowers the tin cup after a moment and sighs. "Why didn't she pick me to go with her to talk to Kodlak?"

"Because she knew you would be able to keep things under control better that Farkas or I?" Aela asked, glancing sideways at him.

Vilkas sniffed in response. "I still don't understand it. I'm her husband."

"Perhaps that's another reason," Aela tells him. "She didn't want you to change her mind in what she was going to say. She already knew what it was going to be; she didn't need you down there telling her to say something else."

Vilkas puts his tankard down and stands. "Fine. If she doesn't want my opinion, she doesn't need it." Without another word, he marches from the mead hall and down to the living quarters, passing several ghosts who were lounging around Torvar.

He wasn't sure where he should go once he was in the living quarters; technically, the Harbinger's quarters were his as well. But with the way he was feeling about Cry right now, he didn't really want to go in there. Sighing, he slumps over and heads to his old room. When he reached it, he shuts the door slowly before sinking down onto his bed with a sigh.

Why was Cry acting so distant? If she was worried that he was upset about earlier, all she had to do was tell him so. Vilkas wasn't upset with her; he was upset with Hircine. And Cry didn't have to worry about that anymore. She wasn't a werewolf any longer.

Vilkas's brow furrowed. She wasn't a werewolf anymore… Right? He shakes his head immediately. Of course she wasn't! Why would she lie to him about something like that? And there was no reason she would still be a werewolf, anyway. She _hated_ being a werewolf; why would she stay one when she had the perfect opportunity to change?

No, Cry was _definitely_ not a werewolf anymore. She'd told him herself. And Vilkas trusted her; she was his wife, after all.

Speaking of his wife, he heard her familiar boots coming down the main hall of the living quarters towards the Harbinger's quarters. Quickly, Vilkas stood to pretend he had been looking for something in his room, instead of sulking.

"Vilkas?" she said softly, and he heard his door open behind him. He turned, holding up the first thing he pulled from one of his drawers. She lifts an eyebrow when she sees what it was. "Why are you holding a pair of underwear?"

Vilkas glances at his hand, and sees that he was in fact holding a pair of undergarments. He lowers his arm and puts it behind his back. "No reason. Uh, hi."

Cry smiles at him. "Hi." She glances at the ground awkwardly. "Listen, I'm sorry. About… Well, today in general."

"Don't worry about it," Vilkas responds. He puts the clothing back in the drawer and turns around again to face her. "I know it wasn't you who was trying to attack me."

"I'm not just talking about that," Cry tells him softly, raising her eyes to meet his. He understands immediately and shrugs.

"I get why you did it," he mumbled. "You didn't want me altering your words."

"No!" Cry exclaimed. She stops and lowers her eyes again. "I mean, that's not why I did it at all. I trusted you to take care of things outside, better than Aela or Farkas would have. Definitely better than Farkas would have."

"Speaking of Farkas, what happened to him?" Vilkas questioned, deciding to change the subject. "I would have thought he would have been away from the Tomb of Ysgramor by the time you got there."

Cry seemed grateful for the subject change. "Yeah, well, the army kind of tied him up and left him in there. I almost tripped over him when I went inside."

Vilkas shakes his head. "No wonder he decided to wait for you," he said after a moment. "He loves you."

Cry glances at him. "Like a sister."

"Right," Vilkas corrects himself. "A sister."

There was another awkward pause. Vilkas hated it was like that between them. Hoping to lighten the mood, he smiles at her. "Why'd you come down here?"

"To apologize," Cry admitted. She shrugs, and the corner of her mouth lifts in a half-grin. "Which I guess I've done."

"Yes," Vilkas agreed. "You have."

Cry dips her head and backs out of the room. "Are you going to come back upstairs?"

He wanted too. He really did. But he didn't feel like having a merry time any longer. So he shook his head. "No, I'm pretty tired. It's been a long day. I think I'll stay down here."

Cry gazes at him for a moment, and he thought that she was going to leave. But instead, she reenters the room and closes the door. With a moment of hesitation, she's in front of him, arms around his neck in a hug. "I really am sorry, Vilkas," she whispered.

He returns her hug immediately, glad that she was close to him again. "It's alright, love. I could never be angry with you over something stupid like that."

Cry presses her face against his chest. "Vilkas… There's something I need to tell you."

Vilkas looks down at her. "What is it?" Cry hesitates, and he hugs her tighter. "You know you can tell me anything, C."

There's another moment of silence, and then the Harbinger raises her head from his chest, smiling up at him. "I love you."

Relief floods through him, and he grins at her, kissing her forehead gently. "I love you, too."

She glares at him. "A forehead kiss? Vilkas, you can do better than that!"

Vilkas's grin gets wider, and he bends down to kiss her on the lips. Cry met his lips eagerly, leaning up on her toes to get full access. They kissed for a moment longer, and then Vilkas pulled away. Cry yawned once they were apart, and blinks at him. "I really am tired."

"Then it's time we get to bed," he replied. He detaches himself from her and pulls open the bedroom door. "Let's go to _our_ room."

Cry smiles and scoots past him, heading to the Harbinger's quarters. Vilkas follows immediately with a smile of his own. They'd be having a peaceful sleep tonight for sure.

(*)

Hircine smiles warmly at her as Cry approaches him, greatsword on her back. "Good evening, Cry."

"Evening," she replied, forcing a smile back. "What're we doing tonight?"

Hircine lead her to a wooden table in the center of the werewolf camp in the middle of the blood-stained forest. Across it was a map, but it wasn't one of Skyrim. In fact, it was of a place she couldn't name. Hircine points to a section on the map. "You see, here we are," he said, and then he splays his fingers across the whole map, "and this is the rest of the Hunting Ground."

"Your plane of Oblivion," Cry concludes, studying the map.

Hircine glances at her approvingly. "That it is." He points to another area on the map. "We believe _this_ is where Kodlak Whitemane has his camp set up. Is this true?"

"I don't know," Cry admits, because she didn't. "I've never been to the main camp."

Hircine didn't even try to question her. "Well, we have plenty to show that it is in fact the location. And you're going to go find out for us."

Cry blinks at him. "Why do we need to know where the camp is?" she asked, stalling. "You don't plan on taking the fight straight to them, do you?"

Hircine shrugs. "I will if we can't wipe them all out beforehand." He fixes her with gray eyes, the rest of his face hidden behind his mask. "I can trust you with this task, can't I?"

Cry was exhausted, truly, but she wasn't about to let this Daedra see any weaknesses. She shrugged nonchalantly. "Why not? Just give me a map and I'll be back by morning."

Hircine pulls a smaller version of the map on the table from a drawer and hands it too her. "Run, my little wolf," he whispered.

Cry puts the map in her mouth and removes her armor before changing into her wolf form. Hircine watched this occur, a faint smile in his eyes. When the change was complete, he nods too her, and she sets off through the forest in the direction of the supposed location of Kodlak's camp.

As she ran along, she heard painful howls coming from wolves and humans alike. The sound made her ear fur twitch, but she shook her bulky head and continued to run along without stopping. Without stopping, that is, until she came across a fight directly in her path.

It was between a gray wolf and Benolak, the male Kodlak had brought with him earlier that evening to the parlay. The gray wolf leaped in front of the warrior from the bushes nearby, snarling. Benolak already had his weapon drawn, and he held it before him. "Come on, wolf," the Companion growled. "Give it a go."

Cry wasn't sure if she should interject in the fight or keep going. Besides, if she did jump in, which side would she fight on? No, she needed to stay out of it, avoid any trouble. She curved around the fight, hoping neither saw her pass, and scurried along, not looking back.

After about an hour of running, she paused to catch her breath and check her map to make sure she was heading the right direction. She drops it onto the ground and opens it with a big paw, studying it. Before she could roll it back up again, however, someone snatches it from her. Cry leaps back, snarling, and rounds on whoever had taken it.

Her eyes widened, however, when she saw it was Benolak. "What do you have here, wolf?" he teased, holding up the map. Clearly he didn't recognize her in her wolf form. He waves the parchment. "A map of important locations, eh?"

Cry growls deeply in her throat, not knowing how to convince him it was her. She couldn't just transform in the middle of the Hunting Ground; Hircine would see everything. She could only gaze helplessly up at the map and wonder what in Oblivion she was supposed to do now.

Benolak spread out the map and gazed at it for a solid minute before he turns back to her. "Well, this is a lovely bit of information. Why haven't you tried to kill me yet, wolf?" He grins. "Companion got your tongue?"

He slips the map into his armor and holds out his arms. "C'mon, I'm not gonna stop ya." He sneers at her. "Take it."

Cry lowered herself to the ground, snarling. _Give it back, please,_ she was begging silently. _I don't want to hurt you._

Before she could jump at him, another wolf beat her to the punch, layering the Companion to the blood-colored dirt. It was a big black wolf, and he could only be one wolf in particular. _Go, Cry,_ Hircine growled in her head. _Get to the camp. I have this one._

Without hesitation, Cry darts into the fight, grabs the map from Benolak, and sprinted away into the trees. She didn't want to be around when Hircine finished off Kodlak's friend, and she definitely didn't want to be blamed for it.

Another half hour brought her to the area on the map that signified Kodlak's camp, but the clearing she was standing in was empty. She let out a relieved sigh; Hircine didn't know where they were located. She heard rustling in the trees behind her, and she scented Hircine as he came through the undergrowth to stand beside her. His large, wolf shaped head skimmed the area before he snorted angrily and morphed into a human. Cry's heart stopped when she recognized Benolak.

"They must have moved," he muttered. A wave of his hand sent Cry changing into a human, and before she knew it, she was standing beside him in her undergarments. She would have felt exposed if she hadn't been so upset about Benolak's death. "What do you suppose we do?" he asked her once she was changed.

"I don't know, my lord," she replied quietly. "I don't have any idea where they could be."

"But you can find out," he murmured softly. Hircine glances at her with Benolak's eyes. "I know that there is a truce between your Companions and Kodlak Whitemane's, similar to the one we share."

"There is," Cry lied. "I'm playing both sides of this war, for the true hunters."

Hircine studied her a moment longer, and then turned away. "Figure out where their camp is," he mumbled to her. "And I will reward you greatly."

"How so?" she questioned, genuinely curious.

Hircine is quiet for a moment. "A free, warless night to do whatever you wish." His form changed to his favorite, normal human with a stag mask. "With Vilkas, or with someone who can supply you with a bit more… excitement." He puts a hand against her cheek and strokes his thumb against it. Love between two wolves is very… Passionate."

"I would imagine," Cry responded stiffly. She jerks away from his hand. "I'm sorry, my lord, but I am faithful to Vilkas."

"Loyal," Hircine purred, blinking. "Good news for him, and myself as well. I will see you tomorrow night, love."

The forest around her disappears, and Cry sucks in a deep breath, flying awake. She sits up swiftly, and blinks a few times, breathing heavily. She was in her room, with Vilkas beside her. Her husband was breathing in deeply and slowly, a sure sign that he was dead to the world, and fast asleep.

Upstairs, she could still here the drunken singing of the living whelps, so she hadn't been asleep for too long. Her breaths calm now, she curls up into Vilkas, knowing he wouldn't be able to protect her from whatever happened because of Benolak's death, but still wishing he was capable.

To her surprise, his arm wrapped around her, and his warm breath was against her neck. "Not a bad dream, I hope," he murmured into her ear.

"Nothing like that," she answered. He kissed her neck gently, and she had to take a deep breath before going on. "The whelps woke me with their singing."

She heard him chuckle, and the stubble on his face brushed against the bare skin on her shoulder. Cry didn't care what Hircine said; she didn't need the love making from him. Being this close to Vilkas was enough for her. "Do you want me to go yell at them?" he asked, kissing her again. "Because I will."

"No," Cry told him. "It's alright; let them sing all they want." She turns so that she's facing him, able to see his features clearly in the dark because of the wolf blood, even though she knows that he can't see her completely. "You stay right here."

"As you wish," Vilkas replied. His lips met hers in the darkness, and a burst of passion shot through her. She slid on top of him, unable to help herself. Her husband sucked in a breath as she started to kiss his neck. "C, you sure you want to do this now?"

Cry paused. Did she? It sure as Oblivion _felt_ like she did. Perhaps that's just what it was. A feeling. The wolf wanted her too. With a disappointed sigh, she rolled off of him. "No, I guess not."

Vilkas's arms wrapped around her, and he pulled her into his chest. "Maybe when we've had a good night's rest, eh?" he suggested.

"Good plan," Cry responded, eyes closing.

* * *

**Damn! Things were about to get saucy there. **

**Unfortunately, I cannot write sex scenes for the life of me, therefore, there will never be a sex scene in any of my stories. **

***bows deeply* It is not in my writing capabilities. I am sorry.**

**Review if you like, and I thank you for reading. **


	13. Chapter 13

**This is late. This is late.**

**That is great.**

**It's currently 4:19 WST and I'm uploading a chapter. **

**Whoo hoo.**

* * *

Vilkas woke with a smile on his face. That was odd, mainly because it had never happened before. Well, that was a lie, technically. He had woken with a grin the morning after he and Cry were married. The thought made his smile grow. That was some night.

Cry was still pressed against him, and he nuzzled his face against her neck. He breathes in her scent deeply, longing for her customary smell of sweet rolls and mountain flowers. All he smelled, however, was the familiar scent of wet dog. His eyes flew open, and he breathed in again, hoping he had just made a mistake.

No. There is was, plain as day. He jerked back from her, causing Cry to stir. Vilkas sat up and glared at her, waiting for her to roll over. She did after a moment, and blinked up at him. "What's wrong?"

"Don't ask me what's wrong," Vilkas growled in response. He grabbed her right arm and ran his fingers along her skin, looking for the scar. Maybe he'd missed it the day before.

Cry pulls her arm away from him and sits up herself. "What are you doing?" she demanded, hiding her arm behind her back.

"Looking for the scar!" he shouts, wrinkling his nose at her. "Why do you still smell like one of them?"

Fear flashed in Cry's blue-gray eyes, and she looks away. "One of what?" she muttered, gnawing at her lip.

"You know what!" Vilkas jumps out of the bed and shoots daggers at her with his eyes. "Why? Why would you lie to me about something like this?"

"Vilkas, please," Cry begged. She gazed at him, eyes big. "I can explain everything."

"I don't want your damn explanation!" he roared, knocking over a pot on the side table. It falls to the floor and shatters. He watches as Cry flinches at the noise, and continued to shake even after. "I want you to tell me _why_ you didn't trust me enough."

The Harbinger scoots away from him on the bed, eyes closed tightly. "Because I knew you would react like this," she whispered, turning her head away.

Vilkas saw that she was scared, but at the moment, he didn't care. He stiffened himself against the tears that started to come from her eyes. He turned away from her and started towards the doors. "I'm done with you," he muttered to her, and then he was out the door.

He definitely wasn't smiling any more.

Vilkas stormed to his bedroom and shut the door behind him with a _bang_. He didn't care if we woke anybody up; they had all lied to him. He had to clench his fist to keep from throwing a book or something across the room. How could they had done that too him? He was a member of the Circle! He deserved to know_ everything_, especially if it pertained to his wife.

The word made him even angrier. She wasn't his wife. His wife wouldn't have lied to him. No, from this point on he was done with Cry Silverworthy. He wasn't going to get mixed up in anything having to do with her, or her plan to stop the werewolves. She wasn't his anymore. Gods, Hircine could have her if he wanted.

That thought made him stop his angry pacing. Had he really just… No. That wasn't him. However angry he was, he didn't want to wish_ that_ on her. Just the thought disgusted him. Cry didn't deserve that. Not even after she had lied to him. Twice.

Someone knocked on his door, and Vilkas whipped around. "What?" he growled through the wood.

"Vilkas, let me apologize to your face, if nothing else," Cry said softly from the other side.

Vilkas swallowed thickly. "No. I can't look at you right now."

He thought he heard her walk away, but a moment later she said, "Okay."

He leaned against the door, thinking she was gone. "Then I'll say it through the door." Vilkas rolls his eyes as Cry clears her throat. "I know that you hate me right now. I have to admit, I hate myself probably a little more than you do. I shouldn't have lied to you, but I was so scared that you would do something drastic if I told you."

"What can I do?" Vilkas demanded, cutting her off. "I can't do anything about this."

Cry didn't say anything pertaining to this, but he hears her press her forehead against the door. "I just… I want you to know that I'm so sorry. I shouldn't done what I did, and I don't think there's anything to do to make up for it, not for this." There's a pause, and then she goes on, quieter this time, "I'm sorry."

Vilkas waited for her to say something more, but she didn't. He closes his eyes and slides to the floor, back against the door. He didn't want to forgive her. Not yet anyway.

_I see you're having some marriage problems._ Vilkas lifts his head and glances around his room, positive he had heard a voice. _Perhaps I can be of some assistance. _

"Who-?"

_I think you know perfectly well who I am,_ the voice said.

Vilkas did. "What do you want, Hircine?"

_I just want to help, Vilkas. That's all I've ever wanted. _

"Dragon dung," Vilkas muttered. "If you wanted to help, you would have left her alone."

_And kept your brother? Why Vilkas, that's a wonderful idea,_ Hircine praised. _Why didn't you share that with Cry before any of this happened? _

"You would have taken her anyway."

_True_, Hircine admitted thoughtfully. _Although she wouldn't have needed to lie to you a second time._

Vilkas stiffened at this. "What do you want from me?"

(*)

Cry pulled her knees against her chest and took a shaky breath. She didn't need to start crying again, especially not on the other side of Vilkas's door. She heard rustling in the room next to Vilkas's and then Farkas appeared, looking extremely tired and hung-over.

He blinks down at her sleepily, clearly wondering what she was doing sitting on the ground outside of Vilkas's old room. She gazes up at him, waiting for him to speak. "What are you doin' up so early?" he asked at last.

"He knows, Farkas," Cry tells him, more tears springing up. "He knows I lied."

Farkas's eyes cleared up, and they widened. "How?"

"He could smell it." Cry squeezes her eyes closed to push away the tears. "I can't believe I didn't think he would be able to tell by my scent."

"You had no reason too," Farkas replied. With a sigh, he squats down beside her and lifts her chin with his finger. "Hey, you're not the only one who lied to him."

"I'm the only one that matters," Cry whispered, the tears escaping even though she didn't want them too.

"Shh," Farkas murmured, sitting down fully and pulling Cry to his chest in a hug. "It's alright. He'll get over it soon enough."

_He's right. In fact I think he's over it right now._

Cry stiffened at Hircine's voice. "What are you talking about?"

_Why don't you go see for yourself?_

Cry looks at Farkas, eyes wide. "Get me into his room. Now."

Farkas doesn't even question. He merely stands and starts to pulls on the door to get it open, pounding on it all the while. "Vilkas!"

"What did you do to him?" Cry demanded, climbing to her feet.

_I only did what he asked me to do,_ Hircine responded easily.

Farkas wasn't doing his job fast enough, Cry decided, and so she shoved him out of the way and slammed open the door in one shove. Vilkas was sitting on his bed, and his head lifted when the door flew open. "You know."

"Of course I know!" Cry shouts. She storms across the room and grabs him up in a hug, forgetting all about their fight. "Why are you so stupid?" she sobbed, holding him to her chest.

"I did this to protect you," he replied, not pulling away. Instead, he stands up and adjusts their position so that she's against his chest instead. "Everything I do is to protect you."

"I don't need you to protect me!" Cry pulled away from Vilkas and glared angrily at him. "The whole reason I didn't tell you was so you didn't do _this!_"

Vilkas's gaze was steely. "Yes, but now I know. Is this honestly the drastic thing you didn't want me to do?"

"You hate being a werewolf even more than I do!" Cry exclaimed. She took a deep breathed and closed her eyes, putting her fists on his chest. "Vilkas, listen to me. I'm going to go call Odahviing, give you the last witch head, and you're going to fly your handsome arse to the Tomb of Ysgramor and take care of this."

Vilkas shakes his head. "Not while you're still a wolf. You think I trust Hircine with you while you're in the Hunting Ground with him? Alone?"

Cry gapes at him. "Is that really what this is about? You think I'm going to be disloyal?" She grabs his chin. "I am in love with you, Vilkas. No one else."

"If you really love me," he said, removing her hand from his chin, "then you'll let me do this for you."

"When this is over," Cry whispered, gazing up at him, "one of us is still going to be a wolf, and I already promised Kodlak-" Her eyes widened. "You can't tell the ghost Companions what you did."

"Why not? They won't do anything."

"I can't agree with that, brother," Farkas said from the doorway. "You're the one who promised Kodlak you would get rid of the blood no matter what."

"Which I did," Vilkas replied.

"I know that, but if you go out there even after that, waggling your new tail around, you're gonna get your head chopped off," Farkas told him. "Keep quiet about this."

"Fine," Vilkas grumbled. He glances at Cry. "And since you lied to me, what you're going to do to make it up, is leave me alone about this."

"What-?"

"That means you're not going to complain if I show up in the Hunting Ground to make sure you're alright," Vilkas cuts her off. He takes her hand and pulls her back into a hug. "Alright?"

"When this is over, I'm going to find some way to change you back, I promise," Cry swears, gazing up at him.

"I'm sure you will," Vilkas replied. "But for now, can't we just pretend there isn't something hanging over our heads?"

"Are you guys going to… You know…?" Farkas queried, starting to back out the door. "Cause if you are, I'm going to need to leave now, aren't I?"

"No, you don't need to leave," Vilkas responded, keeping his gaze locked with Cry's. "I haven't forgiven her that much. Yet."

* * *

**This chapter is long. This chapter is long.**

**I'm going to go hit the bong.**

**No, I'm not. That's a bad thing. I just needed something to rhyme with long. **

**4/20 blaze it.**

**HEY.**

**THAT'S GOOD BECAUSE IT IS NOW CURRENTLY 4:20 WST.**

**I'm good at this.**


	14. Chapter 14

**This is also kind of late. But only 2 hours late as compared to the 4 hours late the last chapter was. Yeah. **

* * *

"What are you supposed to be doing tonight?" Kodlak asked, leaning over the table in the Harbinger's quarters.

Cry didn't see any reason to lie. "Hircine wants me to find out where your camp is. He knows about the truce."

Kodlak gives her a look. He doesn't know about… Right?"

She shakes her head. "No. Nothing. I told him I was playing both sides to help him."

"Good," Kodlak murmured. "Good." He studies the map momentarily. "We need to set up a fake camp. Perhaps we can ambush them."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Cry commented. Kodlak pointed to a clearing on the map, to the north of the one Hircine had sent her to the night before.

"Here. If you tell Hircine that this is where the camp is, we'll have a battle patrol waiting for his wolves when they come," the old Harbinger said. "We'll be ready."

"Would be lucky if Hircine himself showed up, wouldn't it?" Tenla queried, having listened in from the corner of the room. "We could be over and done with this tomorrow night."

Kodlak chuckled. "It would be lucky. Unfortunately for us, we haven't really been lucky for a long time."

"Don't I know it?" Cry asked, leaning her back against the table. "So that's it, then? Just tell Hircine the camp is there?"

"That's all there is too it," Kodlak confirmed. He backed away from the table, stretching. "Maybe I'll be in the battle patrol myself."

"You might need to be," Tenla agreed. She gazes down at the floor. "Especially since we lost Ben last night. Ysgramor help his soul to Shor's Hall."

Cry flinched. _Who even knows if he went to Sovngarde?_

Kodlak noticed her stiffness, and he touches her shoulder gently. Cry jerked away from his touch that wasn't actually there. "Sorry. I just- I'm tired of losing men to them," she lied, avoiding both of their eyes.

"We are too," Kodlak tells her. "But that'll all be over soon."

Cry nods, starting towards the doors. "I'm going to go up to the mead hall and get something to drink." Without waiting for a response, she scurries from the room and down the living quarters' hallway to the stairs. She took them two at a time and reached the mead hall in a matter of seconds from leaving her room. Farkas and Vilkas were sitting at the mead hall table, tankards in front of both of them.

Cry sauntered over to them and took Farkas's, knowing he would have mead instead of ale, like Vilkas would have. She swallows it all in one gulp and slams the tin cup back onto the table. "Thanks," she burped.

"No problem," Farkas grumbled, picking up the tankard and gazing into it. "So, what're you doing tonight?"

"Telling Hircine a fake location of a camp so a group of Kodlak's can ambush his wolves," Cry explained. She sits down on Vilkas's lap and leans back against him with a sigh.

"No way," her husband grunted. "I don't want you having to lie. What will happen when they get ambushed and dragged their sorry hides back to Hircine to tell him? He's going to blame you."

"No he won't," Cry replied. "He trusts me."

"Still, I don't feel right letting you do that," Vilkas grumbled. He wraps his arm around her protectively. "Let me go with you when you tell him, at least. As an extra source. Maybe if there's two of us, he'll see it as bad luck."

Cry didn't know how she felt about that. She didn't want Vilkas getting in trouble if Hircine got angry with her. "No," she tells him. "I won't drag you into this."

"You're not," said Vilkas. "I want to do this. You're not dragging me into anything."

Cry sighed, knowing he wasn't going to change his mind. She wasn't about to let him get angry again, and she really did want him to forgive her fully… More so now that they were both wolves. "Fine," she muttered at last. "You can come. But let me do the talking, please."

Vilkas relaxed behind her. "Thank you."

"Am I forgive yet?" Cry asked, turning around so that she could look at him. He studied her thoughtfully for a moment before shaking his head.

"Not yet," he said. "Not until tomorrow."

"Must you keep me waiting?" she purred, blinking sweetly at him. "I really don't like being on your bad side."

"And I really don't like it when you're talking to each other like this," Farkas muttered from his chair. They both turned to look at him, and he rolls his eyes. "Can't you save it for the privacy of your quarters, please?"

Cry sighed and rotated back around, crossing her arms. "Fine."

"Sultry, passionate werewolves," Farkas grunted. "You would think you two are vampires."

"Don't even say that word around us," Vilkas warned. "Vampires are filthy creatures."

"I agree!" said Farkas, probably hearing the anger in Vilkas's tone. "Nasty things."

Cry couldn't help but grin. It was almost like everything was normal again. Hopefully it could be that way again, soon.

(*)

"Well, well, well," Hircine said, clapping his hands together. "If it isn't Cry _and_ her mate! Welcome, Vilkas."

Cry took Vilkas's hand and led him towards the Daedra standing on the opposite side of the table. "I've found out where the camp is," she tells him.

Hircine tilts his masked head. "Did you? What fun! Here, here!" He gestures at the map on the table. "Show me!"

Cry studied the Daedra for a moment, wondering what had him acting like Sheogorath. All the same, she points to the same clearing that Kodlak had shown her earlier in the day. "Here. Vilkas can vouch for it as well."

"Can you?" Hircine queried, glancing at her husband. "Not that I don't trust your lovely wife, of course."

Vilkas nodded. "She speaks the truth. Kodlak showed us this clearing on his own map earlier this evening."

_Well,_ Cry thought. _It isn't a complete lie._

"Well then," said Hircine. "I think we have everything we need." He takes Cry's free hand and kisses it gently. "You've more than earned you day off, love."

"Careful, Daedra," Vilkas growled beside her. "She's mine."

Hircine glanced over at him, before he slowly changed into a wolf, one that had just been killed in one of the never ending battles. "I understand perfectly. And she seems loyal to you."

Cry scoots closer to Vilkas in order to emphasize this point. Wolf-Hircine merely turns his head away from them. "Thank you for doing this for the cause, my friends. This will be very helpful, as I'm sure you both can guess."

"What do you plan on doing, if I might ask?" Cry questioned, deciding it was worth a shot.

Hircine turns back to them, gray eyes drifting to Vilkas before turning back to her. "As my second in command, it is only right you know what I'm going to do, but I don't know if this can be heard around your mate."

Cry nods, understanding. "Yes, I know how you feel. I don't trust him with anything."

"Hey!" Vilkas protested, but Cry puts a hand against his chest.

"Are we allowed to go, my lord?" she questioned.

"Of course, my friends," Hircine replied, changing back into the masked man. "Have a lovely evening."

Cry and Vilkas were transported back to their bed at the same time, and they both awoke with a sharp breath. Cry glanced over to make sure Vilkas was okay before she allowed herself to relax. Vilkas rolled over onto his side and propped himself up on his elbow.

"What did he mean by a day off?"

Cry grins at him, knowing he could see it even though it was pitch black in the room. "Oh, just that I won't be going into the Hunting Ground tomorrow night."

"Really?" Vilkas asked, lifting an eyebrow. With a swift movement, he was on top of her and tickling her mercilessly. Cry squealed, writhing. "I may have to forgive you, then."

She started to laugh as the tickling grew worse. "Stop!" she gasped.

"What's the magic word?" Vilkas queried, not pausing.

"Please!" Cry managed between giggles.

"Actually, the magic word was "forgive"," Vilkas said, rolling off of her, "but I'll stop now because I love you."

Cry stopped laughing after a few more chortles, and looked over at him. "So, you forgive me? Fully?"

Vilkas grins, gazing up at the ceiling. "Yes, I forgive you. Can we go back to sleep now?"

"Give me a kiss first," Cry tells him. Vilkas shakes his head, and Cry crawls on top of him. "Kiss," she ordered, tapping her lips.

Vilkas sighed and leaned up, kissing her softly. "There. Are you satisfied?" he asked, lying back down.

"Course," Cry replied. She didn't slide off of him, however. She merely laid her head down on his chest with a contented sigh. "Now we can go back to sleep."

"Wonderful," Vilkas murmured, wrapping one arm around her to hold her against him. "Tomorrow, we can do whatever you like."

"Hmm," Cry mumbled in response. "I may have to hold you up on that offer."

After only a few minutes, Vilkas's breathing steadied, and he was asleep. Cry smiled softly, her own eyes closed as she drifted into a doze, which eventually turned into full sleep.

* * *

**This one is short, though. So it's not too good. I need to go finish A Storm of Swords. I'm outtie.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Oh hey. An hour la****te. Cool. I need to start waking up before 12:30. **

**Anyway, Cryaotic Streams: Fall Out 3 for 24 hours. Maybe I'll finish the FanFiction in that span of time!**

**Later thugs. **

* * *

"Farkas!" The burly Companion sent one final slash to the training dummy before he turned around to see a living person (it was necessary to distinguish living or nonliving now) leaning against a post holding up the roof of the outside eating area. He didn't recognize her.

"Can I help you?" he asked, tilting his head.

"I understand you're the man to talk to nowadays about joining the Companions," the woman told him, crossing her arms.

"And where did you hear this?" Farkas queried, leaning his training sword against the wall.

She shrugged. "All over Whiterun, really. I'm new in town, and in desperate need of some place to stay."

"I'm sorry to tell you this then," Farkas began, wiping away the sweat on his forehead with a rag, "but we're out of room."

"Pity," the woman said, walking over to him. Close up, he could see she had red hair pulled back by two braids and gray eyes. The war paint on her cheek moved as she smiled at him. "I really did want to know how the Companions worked."

Farkas shrugged one shoulder, signifying he didn't know how to help her. Her grin disappeared, and she dipped her head. "Thank you for pausing in your training to talk with me. I suppose I'll go on my way." She turned and started to walk out of the training yard.

"Hey!" Farkas called after her, not wanting to let her go without any help at all. The redhead stops and glances at him from over her shoulder. "The Bannered Mare has rooms for rent, 10 Septims a night."

She smiled sadly at him. "Yes, but I'm kind of short on Septims at the moment." Her hand drifts absently to the steel axe on her hip. "I'll just take care of my business in Whiterun and be on my way. Thank you again, Farkas."

Without another word, she faced forward once more and started to walk away. Farkas's brow furrowed as she disappeared around Jorrvaskr. _Why was she?_

"Hey Farkas," Njada said, appearing from inside of Jorrvaskr. "Cry's looking for you."

Farkas shook his head to get rid of the redheaded woman and walked over to her. "Did she say what she wanted?"

Njada shrugged, and Farkas sighed, pushing his way past her into Jorrvaskr. "She's down in her room," Njada tells him.

"Thanks," he replied, and then he headed down to the living quarters. Once he reached the bottom stair, he could tell there was something wrong. "Cry?" he called, picking up his pace to a slow jog.

He expected her to appear from her bedroom disfigured or bloody, but instead she appeared smiling. "I hope I didn't take you from something important," she said.

"No, no," Farkas responded, trying to slow his breathing. "I was just- Training."

"What's wrong with you?" Cry asked, gazing up at him with big eyes. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Farkas told her, forcing a grin. "Just thought there was something wrong."

She gave him a look. "Farkas, I know that grin is forced. What's really wrong with you?"

"Nothing," Farkas sighed. "What did you want?"

"Do you know where Vilkas is?" Cry questioned, stepping away from him. "He disappeared before I woke up this morning, and I lost his trail outside of Whiterun."

Farkas shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe he went on a run. When we were both werewolves before you showed up, we used to go on runs twice a week." He smiled at the memory. "Those were good times."

Cry scratched her head. "It just doesn't make sense why he didn't say anything."

"Okay, I get you have a weird wolf connection thing going on with him," Farkas replied. "And I get that you two are married, but do you honestly need to know where he is every second of the day?"

Cry blinked at him. "Kind of, considering he's a wolf and can change on Hircine's will. I just want to know if he's okay."

Farkas looked down at her, feeling bad for what he had just said. "Sorry, C. I had a weird conversation up in the training yard a few minutes ago. I didn't mean anything by it."

Cry grinned at him. "It's alright, Farkas. I know you don't like that we're acting like this around one another."

"I honestly don't," Farkas admitted. "You guys are both warriors; you shouldn't be worried about one another, because you both know the other can protect themselves no problem."

At this, Cry looked down at the floor. "I wish that was true," she muttered sadly. "Hircine has his claws in both of us right now; one wrong move and he can send Vilkas changing without any consent."

"You're safe, though," Farkas reminded her. "Right?"

Cry didn't respond, and instead ran away from him to the end of the living quarters, saying, "Vilkas! You're back!" Farkas turned to see his brother scoop up his friend and spin her around in a circle before setting her back down. Cry hit him on the chest. "Where in Ysgramor's beard were you?" she demanded.

"I felt like I needed to run," Vilkas replied, catching her wrist before she could punch him again.

"Why didn't you tell me you were going?" Cry asked. "You scared me half to death."

"You were sleeping peacefully," Vilkas told her easily, stepping away from a kick. "I didn't want to disturb you. Hey." He puts a hand against her cheek. "I promise I'll tell you next time, alright?"

Farkas couldn't take the lovey-dovey any more. He cleared his throat to get their attention. "Hey! Over here! Remember me?"

Vilkas looked at him first. "Oh, hey brother! Sleep well?"

Farkas rolled his eyes and shook his head, starting towards them. "You two _really_ need to sleep together." He pushes between them to break them apart and starts up the stairs. "I'm hungry. Anyone want to eat lunch with me?"

"Right," Cry said, agreeing. "Food is important." She took Vilkas's hand. "Come on."

Farkas shook his head and left them. "Lovesick dogs," he grumbled under his breath.

"We heard that!" they both called up the stairs after him.

(*)

Vilkas lounged across the bed in the Harbinger's quarters, waiting for Cry to come into the room. She had gone to wish Kodlak and his men luck in ambushing the group of wolves that were going to the fake camp. She'd asked him to get ready for bed without her, but stay awake. Vilkas snorted, lying on his back and gazing up at the ceiling. Of course he was going to stay awake.

He grinned when he heard boots shuffling along down the hall, and then the first set of doors opened, shut, and then Cry was standing in the open second set of doors. Vilkas rolled onto his side to face her. "How did it go?" he asked.

Cry merely shrugged and started to unbuckle her armor. Vilkas sat up and gestured for her to come over so he could help. Cry did, and within a few moments her armor was gone and she was dressed only in her tunic and the under clothes beneath. The Harbinger sat down heavily on the edge of the bed with a sigh, and Vilkas tilted his head, suddenly worried.

"What's wrong, love?" She lifted one shoulder in another shrug, and Vilkas slid behind her on the bed, rubbing her bare shoulders. "Tell me," he persisted gently.

"I just… I keep thinking about what side I would be fighting on if I was there tonight," Cry admitted quietly. "I can't openly fight any of the wolves, but I don't want to have to fight any of the humans either."

"You're not fighting either of them," Vilkas reminded her, moving her hair away from her neck and over one shoulder. "You're here with me."

Cry let out a heavy breath and shook herself. "Yes, I am, but when it comes to the point that I'm not? What then?"

Vilkas sighed and moved so that he was squatting on the ground in front of her. "Hey, listen to me," he said, taking both of her hands. Her eyes moved to meet his, and he raises his eyebrows reassuringly. "You don't need to think about that right now. Right now, you need to relax, and let yourself be a human without any problems."

Cry smiled at him and took her hands from his; she scooted back on the bed and folded her legs beneath her. "What would we be doing if we weren't in the Companions?"

"If we weren't in the Companions?" Vilkas queried, climbing onto the bed after her. "I don't know… Why do we have to not be in the Companions? I can't imagine life without Jorrvaskr."

Cry tilted her head, eyes gazing wistfully into somewhere in the distance. "I can. We could live in Breezehome with Farkas."

"Would we still travel around?" Vilkas asked, taking her hand.

"Of course," Cry replied. "Anywhere you wanted to go. And we would still argue over who was the worst at cooking."

"Definitely you," Vilkas told her with a grin.

Cry smiled back as Vilkas ran several kisses up her arm to her shoulder and back down it again. "Maybe we would have children."

At this, Vilkas fixes her with a look. "How many are we talking about here?"

"Oh," Cry said, shrugging. "Two to start, maybe a third if Farkas got lonely."

"Three little whelps?" Vilkas shook his head. "You really are dreaming."

"I know," Cry replied sadly. She lay back, head on the pillow. "Sorry. I let my mind get away from me."

Vilkas joined her at the head of the bed, putting his hands on his stomach. Clearly, he wasn't seducing her very well. "Don't worry about it," he sighed.

Cry rolled over beside him, and he glanced at her. She was gazing at him, smiling. "You want to do it, don't you? Sleep with me, I mean."

"Of course, I do," Vilkas admitted quickly. "I'm a man. The man who's married to you, in fact."

Without any warning, Cry was suddenly straddling him, and had his arms pressed to the bed. Vilkas struggled for one moment before he gave up with a huff and gazed at her. He wasn't sure why, but his heart was pounding in his chest, and he didn't know if it was because he was scared, or because he was excited.

Cry stared down at him for a single moment, until she connected her lips to his in a hungry kiss. Vilkas's heightened senses told him that it was being fueled by passion and love. He thought about refusing for a moment, but then Cry relaxed on top of him, and he realized he didn't want to. Refuse, that it. So he wrapped his arms around her and brought her down on him.

It was her night off, and he would be damned if he let her slip by him without taking advantage of it.

* * *

**Also random redhead appearance in the beginning of the chapter. Wonder who she was?**

**Alright, so, _now_ later thugs. I'm outtie until Saturday. **

**Smoke... Candy every day. **

**Y'know, those candy cigarettes? Those were the lively hood of my younger years.**


	16. Chapter 16

**Howdy. I'm just gonna have to change my upload time to 1 PM WST because holy shit I'm getting bad at uploading at 12. **

**All the same, chapterssssssss. **

**Hope you all had a good 'Murica Day yesterday. And if you don't celebrate it, I hope you had a good day all the same. **

* * *

Aela made her way down to the living quarters after her nightly run, yawning. She was actually exhausted. Aela was_ never_ exhausted. It was probably because she hadn't rested in almost a week. Just as she was walking into her room, someone tapped her shoulder lightly.

The huntress whipped around, snarling, but stopped when she saw it was only Farkas. "What do you want?" she sighed, entering her bedroom.

The burly Companion followed her, shutting the door behind him. "I need you to go wake up Cry and Vilkas," he said once the door was closed.

Aela gazed at him, beginning to remove her armor, too tired to care that he was watching. "Why?"

Farkas diverted his gaze, stammering, "I-I u-uhm heard them. Last night. An-And I don't want to walk in to naked Vilkas."

"And you think I do?" Aela asked, giving him a look. She steps out of her armor and pulls off her tunic, revealing her small clothes. Farkas continued to stare at the floor as she went on: "I'm sure they'll wake up when they want to wake up."

"But-"

"Farkas, I'm tired. Can't you just let me go to sleep, please?" Aela demanded. She put her hands on her top. "If you don't get out of my room now, I'm going to take it off."

"I'm gone!" Farkas called, already out the door.

Aela smirked and lowered her hands, sinking onto her bed with a heavy sigh. She laid her head back on her pillow and shut her eyes, about to fall asleep when Vilkas's cry ripped through the air.

Aela jerked upright and was in the Harbinger's bedroom in 3 seconds. Vilkas was leaning over Cry, his head against her chest. "What's wrong?" Aela questioned, hurrying to her Harbinger's side.

"Sh-She won't wake up," Vilkas murmured softly. He lifted his head and touched Cry's face. "Cry? Love, please wake up. Please."

Aela shook Cry's bare shoulder, but her Harbinger didn't respond. Her eyelids didn't even flutter. Vilkas's own eyes were filling with tears. "Cry… Sweetling, please. Give me some sort of sign that you're alive at least."

Cry remained still. Still as a corpse. Vilkas choked out a sob and collapsed onto the bed next to her, crying his eyes out. Aela swallowed thickly to keep back her own tears and managed to reach over and rub Vilkas's arm. "It's alright, Shield-Brother," she said softly. "We'll get her back."

Farkas appeared in the doorway. "What's going on?" he asked. "I heard crying-" He cuts off when he sees Cry on the bed, unmoving. His eyes lifted to meet Aela's. "She's not…?"

Aela didn't need to respond. Farkas ran over to the side of the bed she was standing on and brushed his fingers against Cry's cheek. "C…?" he questioned softly. "I know that you probably can't hear me, since Hircine decided to be a bastard and keep you in his… little piece of Oblivion, but I need you to know that I'm not going to stop fighting until you're awake. For good."

He takes his hand away and glances at Aela. "I'm going to go tell Kodlak."

"You don't need too." They both turn to see Kodlak standing in the doorway. "I already know."

"How?" Aela asked.

Kodlak continues to gaze down at Cry. "I should have known that she was going to come to the fight anyway, even though Hircine gave her the night off. I don't know what she thought she was going to be able to do, since Hircine keeps his eye on her at all times, but she came. And she fought."

"On the wrong side, I'm going to guess," Farkas sighed, looking down at his friend. "What did you do, Cry?"

"She took out one of the wolves," Kodlak explained. "As a wolf." His gaze drifted to Vilkas, who was still lying next to Cry, sobbing. "We're going to save her, Vilkas. But we're going to need everyone to help."

Vilkas's crying stopped, and he lifts his head, eyes red. "I'm going to kill that damned Daedra if I die doing it," he growled under his breath.

"Okay, let's not talk about death just yet," Aela said. She glanced at Kodlak. "What do you need us to do, Harbinger?"

"I'm going to need you to go against your fellow wolves," he tells her. "You're going to be on the inside. Find out where she is so we can help her."

Aela nodded immediately. "I may be a wolf, but my loyalty is to the Companions, and that means it's too her."

"I want to fight," Farkas said, straightening up. He looked at Kodlak, eyes narrowed. "I want to kill all of them."

"I admire you spirit," Kodlak praised with a smile. "So long as you're careful, you can kill as many wolves as you can get your sword inside of."

Farkas dipped his head, looking down at his brother. "And Vilkas?"

"I know you're a wolf, Vilkas," Kodlak said. Vilkas looked at him, and Kodlak nodded. "I've known since you became one. Someone doesn't just become a werewolf without me knowing."

"I'll do whatever to get Cry back," Vilkas muttered. "I'll stay a wolf, or go straight to the Tomb of Ysgramor and become a human again. Whatever you ask of me, I'll do, as long as Cry returns to me safely."

Aela looked from Kodlak to Vilkas, and back again. The ghost Companion was gazing at the living one steadily, sizing him up. Finally, he nodded. "She will be, I promise you. But Vilkas, I'm going to need you on the battle field. You're better suited to fighting, even though you're a wolf. Technically, Hircine is in control of you, and he must know that you're going to try and get Cry back."

"So do you want me to fight on your side?" Vilkas asked.

"Yes," Kodlak replied. "Fight your strongest, and we will bring Cry home."

"Where do you want us to begin, Kodlak?" Aela asked, turning to him fully. The old Harbinger began to pace at the foot of the bed.

"We're going to need to post a guard on her body at all times," he told them after a moment. "We don't need werewolves coming and stealing her body, too."

"I can set up a routine for the whelps, so that one of them is in here with her at all times," Aela told him. "They'll protect her with their lives if it comes to it, I know they will."

"As do I," Kodlak agreed with a smile. He turns to look at Farkas. "Are you okay with going into the Hunting Ground at night when you are sleeping?"

"Of course," Farkas said immediately. "Anything to get Cry back."

"Then starting tonight," Kodlak said, "you will be traveling to the Hunting Ground whenever you fall asleep."

Farkas nods and looks down at Cry. Kodlak turns to Vilkas. "And you."

"Am I going to the Hunting Ground, too?" he asked, wiping at his eyes with the back of his hand. "I will."

"No," Kodlak replied. "Not tonight. Tonight, you are going to stay here with your wife until we get back and tell you what the plan is, alright?"

Vilkas looked like he was going to argue, but Farkas put a gentle hand on his shoulder. Vilkas glances at him, and Farkas nods to Cry subtly. Vilkas takes in a deep breath and bows his head. "Fine."

Kodlak nods and turns to leave the room, waving his hand for Aela to follow. She does immediately, and they walk down the hall towards the stairs. "After you set up the routine for the whelps, I need you to go to sleep and travel to the Hunting Grounds. Can you do that?"

"I can try," she replied. "I've never gone there before, but I'll do my best."

"That's all I can ask for," Kodlak told her. He stopped at the top of the stairs and gazed around at the mead hall momentarily before looking back at her. "Find her, Aela. If Hircine harnesses the dragon, too… There's no saying what might happen."

Aela nodded in understanding, and Kodlak dipped his head before he disappeared into thin air. Aela summoned the whelps to her, planning out how she was going to find Cry in her head as she did so. _I'll get you back, Shield-Sister_, she thinks determinedly. _I swear I will._

(*)

"Let me out of here!" Cry demanded, shaking the steel bars of her cage. "I didn't do anything wrong!"

"Still lying, are we?" Hircine asked, pacing before her cage as an elk. He leered at her through the bars, gray eyes cold and hard. "When will it stop, Dragonborn?"

"I never lied to you!" Cry said, lying even as she spoke. "Why do you have me locked up?"

"Because you betrayed us!" Hircine growled, his form changing into a sabre cat. Fangs glinted blood red as he clawed at the ground. "I know you plotted with Kodlak Whiteman in the ambush last night."

Cry knew she was caught. "Sure, I fought with them," she began, "but that doesn't mean I knew they were going to attack!"

"Stop," Hircine said, changing into his human form. "Just stop."

Cry swallowed back anything else she was going to say and slid away from him, against the back of the cage. "How come you waited?" she asked. Hircine looked at her, and she shrugged. "If you knew I was lying, why did you wait to keep me here?"

Hircine tilted his head, thinking about this. "To make the separation more difficult," he answered after a moment. "Making love and then being separated from one another immediately hurts pretty bad, doesn't it?"

Even as he spoke, the dull ache in Cry's heart got worse. She sucked in a sharp inhale, and Hircine chuckled wickedly. "Yes, I know. It hurts."

Cry wanted to beg to be sent back, so she could be with Vilkas again. But she wouldn't beg. The Dragonborn does not beg. "The Dragonborn does not beg," Cry hissed aloud.

Hircine glanced at her sideways. "Doesn't she? Well, how about a wolf? Does a wolf beg?"

He waves his hand, and the wolf howls loudly in the back of her mind. The dragon steps forward and roars even louder. The wolf whimpers and backs off immediately. Cry glared at the Daedra standing in front of her cage.

"Only to the dragon."

"Tell me something, Cry," Hircine said after a moment. "If you're a dragon, how come you don't turn into one?"

In response, Cry shouted, "_Yol… Toor Shul!" _at him. Hircine backed away as the fire licked at his legs, dangerously close.

"I see," he said as the fire died down before him. "You don't need to turn into a dragon, because you can make fires happen instead."

"I would suggest you stop talking," Cry snarled. "Before I actually get angry."

"That wasn't angry?" Hircine asked, impressed. He changed into a wolf and waved black tail in the air. "I'd love to see what angry looks like. How about I bring Vilkas over and do something to him? Would that make you angry?"

"Don't you dare!" Cry hurried to the front of the cage and gripped the bars again. "If you touch him-"

"I won't touch your precious mate," Hircine sighed, changing back into his human shape. He dusts some dirt off of his shoulder. "I have much bigger issues to deal with. But first." He claps his hands together. "Bring the silver collar."

At the word silver, Cry's heart skipped a beat. "S-Silver?"

One of Hircine's lackeys approached with a pillow. Resting on top of the pillow was a collar made of pure silver. Hircine pulls on some work gloves and picks it up. "Open the cage," he ordered. Cry retreats to the back of the cage, shaking. Hircine steps forward, holding up the collar. "Come, Cry. If you let me just do it, the shock will be over immediately."

Cry saw her opportunity. Hoping it would be enough of a gap, she shouts, "_Fus… Roh Dah!" _Separated by a matter of seconds, Hircine and his follower fly backwards. Cry shoots out of the cage and sprints towards the trees. She didn't even make it to the tree line. Two wolves burst from the forest in front of her, snarling. Cry didn't have any time to think before Hircine latched the silver collar around her neck, and a burning pain filled her. She fell to the ground, shivering.

"That was a horrible idea, Cry," Hircine purred as the two wolves changed into humans and dragged her back to the cage. "I have eyes everywhere." Together, they tossed her into the cage, and Hircine slammed the door shut. The third moves to lock it, but Hircine holds up his hand, eyes fixed on her. "She won't be able to do anything."

"My lord!" Hircine turns as another man appears from the trees. "Someone here to see you."

"Give me a moment," he said before turning back to Cry. He crouches in front of the cage, and her eyes meet his. Smiling at her, he said, "You be a good little doggie while your master is away, and maybe I'll bring you a treat when I get back."

"Go sleep with a goat!" Cry growled weakly, turning her eyes away.

Hircine shook his head and stood. "Take me to my visitor."

* * *

**Ah shite. Look what happened. Now Cry's stuck in the Hunting Ground, and away from Vilkas no less! **

**This is going to be interesting. I'm excited to see how this all plays out. **

**Peace thugs. **


	17. Chapter 17

**So I couldn't remember what day I uploaded last, and I was too lazy to check before uploading this chapter, so if it's early, cool, have a good day. If it's not, then, hey, I'm 2 hours and 40 minutes late for my upload time. **

**Schweet.**

* * *

Vilkas paced back and forth in front of the guards standing before the clearing where the camp was, and he glared at them as he passed each time. "Why won't you just let me in?" he demanded angrily.

"Lord Hircine has asked for a minute," one of them replied without looking at him. "So give him a damn minute."

"Don't make me angry, dog," growled Vilkas. He stopped pacing and stood in front of the one that had spoken. "Listen to me. If you don't bring me to Hircine right now I will personally pull of your tail."

"Heavy threat." Hircine appeared behind his guards, and he puts a hand on one's shoulder. "And a painful one at that."

The guards parted to let him through, and Vilkas stepped back, crossing his arms. "Where is she?"

Hircine tilted his head. "So that's why you're here."

"Why else would I be here?" Vilkas asked. "Where. Is. My wife?"

Hircine sighs, turning away from him. "She's fine. That's all you need to know."

"I don't care if she's fine or not! I just want to know where she is!" Vilkas shouted, arms unfolding.

Hircine appeared taken aback by this. "You don't care about how she is? If she's alive?"

Vilkas's brow furrowed. "Of course I care about that. The only thing I want to know right now is where she is."

Hircine ignored him and began to saunter around him. "I wonder how Cry would feel if I told her that Vilkas came to the Hunting Grounds and asked where she was. Not _how_ she was, or if she was okay, but _where_. Even though it's plainly obvious that he did know where she was since he came to the camp."

"So she's here," Vilkas muttered. He started towards the guards, but they pushed against his shoulders to keep him back. Vilkas glared at them. "Let me in."

"Don't," said Hircine from behind him. "He's not welcome inside."

Vilkas turned around to face him. "What do you want from me, Hircine? I'll give you anything. Do you want me to fight on your side of the war? Because I will, as long as she is returned home safely."

Hircine sighed as he changed shape before him, shifting to a skeever. Vilkas wrinkled his nose at the dirty smell of the creature. "Why would I want you on my side when I have your wife? She's ten times more important than you are."

"I know that," Vilkas replied, looking down at the ground. "Why do you think I'm here trying to get her back?"

"Well," Hircine mused, snuffling at the ground. "I would have thought it was because you loved her."

"That's what I meant by important," Vilkas told him as Hircine straightened up on his hind legs, back to being a human. "I don't think you understand how important she is too me. She's more important to me than I am to myself."

"How sweet," Hircine purred to him. "Do you think I don't love her as well?"

Vilkas scoffed. "You're incapable of loving anything," he snarled.

"I love my wolves," Hircine replied, backing away from him. He stroked the cheeks of both his guards. "I love them more than myself. And that means I love your wife more than I love myself. I also love you more than I love myself, dearest Vilkas."

"So why are you keeping us apart?" Vilkas asked. "If you love us so much, you would at least let me see her."

"Because you betrayed my love. Both of you," Hircine growled in response. He slides over to Vilkas and touches his face. Vilkas jerked away from his hand, and the Daedra let it linger in the air. "I trusted you both, her especially. And yet you allowed Kodlak Whitemane to ambush your fellow wolves. She even fought on his side!"

"I swear to you, on you, that I had nothing to do with that," Vilkas told him. "And I don't think she planned on it, either."

"Then why did she personally kill two of my wolves?" Hircine asked, tilting his head. When Vilkas couldn't respond, he shakes his head and turns away from him, lowering his hand. "I'm sorry, Vilkas, but I'm not letting you two near each other. I want you to hurt as much as I did when those damn Companions killed my children."

"Oh believe me, Daedra," Vilkas hissed. "You're going to hurt, if I have to see to it myself."

Without waiting for dismissal, Vilkas woke himself up, breathing heavily. Cry was still lying beside him; her position hadn't changed. He reached over and touched her arm briefly before sighing and rolling off of the bed onto the floor. He hit the ground with a thump, and Athis, who was sitting in the corner of the bedroom, lifted his head in surprise.

"Oh! Vilkas, you're awake!" the dark elf said in surprise. He rubbed at his eyes briefly and sat up straighter. "When Aela told us what had happened, I would have thought you guys would have been a no sleep thing again."

"Yes, uh, Athis?" Vilkas asked as he climbed to his feet. "It would be best if you didn't tell anyone I fell asleep."

Athis furrowed his brow as Vilkas started to get dressed. "Are you sure? Because Aela told me that you weren't allowed to go to sleep."

"Who is in charge when it comes to anything concerning Cry?" Vilkas demanded, securing the last strap on his armor.

The whelp looked down at the ground, messing with his dagger. "You are."

"Exactly," Vilkas responded. He walked over to him and patted him on the shoulder. "Keep an eye on her, alright?"

"Yes sir," Athis answered immediately. Vilkas nodded and exited the Harbinger's bedroom, passing Aela's as he went. The huntress was laying on her bed, eyes closed. One opened as he walked by, and he was pulled to a halt when she called for him.

He closed his eyes briefly before he takes a few steps backwards and pokes his head into her room. "Yes?"

One of Aela's eyebrows was raised, even though both her eyes were shut. "Why were you asleep when I came to check on Cry earlier?"

"Why aren't you asleep now, even though Kodlak asked you to be asleep?" Vilkas retorted.

"I asked you first, Vilkas," Aela said icily. "Explain yourself."

Vilkas sighed, eyes rolling. "Do I really have too? What would you have done if it was Skjor in Cry's position?"

Aela had sat up and pressed him against the wall one second after he spoke. "Do not bring Skjor into this," she hissed warningly.

"Then don't tell me to explain myself when you know perfectly well what I was doing," Vilkas replied. He pulled out of her grip stiffly and walked away from her. He felt bad, however, and so he stopped with a sigh and turned around. "I'm sorry, Aela. I-I shouldn't have-"

"Don't," Aela muttered under her breath. She turns and disappears into her bedroom, the door closing. Vilkas groaned and leaned against the wall.

"Why am I such an idiot?" he mumbled, closing his eyes.

"Because if you weren't, you probably wouldn't have brought Cry too you like a bee to a flower." Vilkas opened one eye to see one of Kodlak's ghosts standing at the end of the living quarters' hallway.

Vilkas snorted. "Cry didn't fall in love with me because of my idiocy."

"Didn't she?" the ghost queried. He started to walk down the hall towards him, stopping a few feet away. "I know I died before you two actually confessed your feelings, but I was always watching, and I could sense love between you two. Besides, she didn't fall for your looks, that's for sure."

Vilkas narrowed his eyes. "Do I know you?"

"Come, Vilkas!" the ghost exclaimed. "How could you forget your mentor?"

Vilkas's eyes opened fully, and he grinned. "Riggo Drunk-Wave! I'll be damned!"

His Nord mentor laughed and spread out his arms. "It's good to see you, Vilkas. How have you been?"

The Companion shook his head, unbelieving. "Well, I've been better."

Riggo looked down at the ground. "I was very sorry to hear about Cry, my boy. I can't imagine what you're feeling right now."

"I didn't imagine I would be seeing you again," Vilkas admitted. "When you went out with Skjor and didn't come back with him…"

"I wish we hadn't parted the way we did," Riggo told him. Vilkas sighed, remembering the fight they had before his mentor had gone hunting Skjor, who had just become a full Companion. It was one of their more stupid ones; they had been fighting about Vilkas's swing with a single-handed weapon.

"Yes, it was a pretty idiotic fight, wasn't it?" he asked the dead Companion standing in front of him.

"It was," Riggo replied. "And now that I think about it, your swing wasn't even that bad."

"How did you get caught up in all this?" Vilkas asked, extremely curious. "You were on the Circle, weren't you? How did you do that without taking the blood?"

Riggo shrugged. "I aim that Kodlak just liked me enough." He smiled at Vilkas. "I always knew that you would get on the Circle. You showed much promise, Vilkas."

Vilkas gestures towards the Harbinger's bedroom. "Great job I'm doing, huh? My wife is trapped in the Hunting Grounds with Hircine because I couldn't keep her awake after I slept with her."

Riggo's grin grew larger. "I'm sorry, but that is kind of funny. You bored her so bad that she fell asleep." Vilkas gave him a look, and the ghost lost his smile. "Sorry. I shouldn't be joking about that."

"It's alright," Vilkas mumbled. "I should be appreciative. Everyone is so upset and worried, and here you are, trying to make it all seem like a joke."

"Which isn't really appropriate, considering your wife's life is in danger."

"Hircine wouldn't harm her," Vilkas responded. He sighed and shook his head. "She's too valuable to kill."

"Because of her dragon blood, as well as her wolf blood?" Vilkas nodded, and Riggo let out his breath. "Damn, this is heavier than I thought it would be."

"I know, and it's not helping my sanity any," Vilkas added, leaning heavily against the wall. "All I want is for her to be safe, back home here in Jorrvaskr. I would even give away my love for her so long as she was safe."

"Don't say that, Vilkas," Riggo warned. "The Gods nowadays have a strange need for fulfilling wishes."

"It's not the Divines that are fulfilling wishes," Vilkas sighed unhappily. "It's the Daedra."

"Then we're all in trouble, aren't we?" Riggo asked, giving him a look.

"Only those of us with wishes."

(*)

Aela fell into the Hunting Ground quicker than she thought she would. She had assumed there would be a big struggle with getting in, but no, she just poofed right into the blood-stained forest. And it seemed she was near the werewolves' camp as well.

"Who are you?" a tall, ugly brute demanded, glaring at her as she climbed to her feet.

"A werewolf, same as you," she responded, dusting herself off. She straightened up and met his glare. "I'm here to speak with Hircine."

The werewolf groaned and rolled his eyes. "Not another one. Didn't the whiny Nord tell you people? Hircine is _not _giving back the Dragonborn."

_So she's here._ Aela tilts her head at him. "What makes you think I'm here for her?"

"Because you're a Companion? And because she's your Harbinger?" the wolf queried, lifting an eyebrow.

"Forget the Companions," Aela growled deep in here throat, hoping to sound convincing. "I'm here to fight for the true hunters."

"Yeah, like I believe that. Get out of here, red, before I get angry," the man grumbled.

"Now hold on a second, Samus." A man whose face was concealed by a stag head approached them from the shadows. He fixed Aela with an empty gray stare. "You say you're here to fight for the true hunters."

"I am," she replied immediately. "I'm tired of the Companions."

"And yet how odd it is that you are appearing just after I take Cry away from you," mused the man, who Aela could only assume to be Hircine. "How strange is that?"

Aela bit back a snappy reply. "How could you not believe me? I've never been here before, and here I am. Now, listen to me, Daedra. I wouldn't have come here for just anything. If I came here at all, it would either be kill you or fight for you." She holds out her arms and steps back a few paces. "Does it look like I want to kill you?"

"I suppose if you did, you would have done it already," Hircine replied, dipping his head in acceptance. "Very well. We'll see if you're loyal or not." He turns and waves his hand. "Come. Let's reunite you with your Harbinger."

Aela passes by the ugly werewolf with a muttered word of warning and follows Hircine through the trees. He leads her to a place where two more wolves were guarding a gap in the trees. With a single nod from the Daedric Prince, the wolves part, and Hircine takes Aela's hand and pulls her into the werewolves' camp.

It was similar to that of a normal war camp. There was a smithy, and a cooking spit. Several, in fact. The only thing that was missing were tents. Then again, werewolves didn't need sleep, so why would they need tents? Hircine walked her past all this to the far end of the clearing. "Before we go any further," he said, stopping. "If you try anything, I will personally rip your head off of your body. Are we clear?"

"Absolutely," Aela managed through clenched teeth. Hircine nodded once and stepped back, holding out his arm.

"Here's your beloved Dragonborn and Harbinger. Cry sweetling, you have a visitor."

Hircine was gesturing to a small steel cage, like a jail cell, but lessened in size. On the dirt floor of the cell, Cry was curled up into a tight ball. She didn't even raise her head when Hircine spoke to her, nor did she roll over to look at them. Aela wondered why for a brief moment, but then she saw the silver glinting through Cry's hair.

"Silver?" she asked Hircine, who nodded. "Clever."

"Very," Hircine agreed. He walks over to the cage and kicks it. "Wake up and say hello," he growled.

Cry didn't move. "Perhaps we should leave her to her thoughts?" Aela suggested.

Hircine grunted in response and stepped away from the cage. "Sorry she wasn't very pleasant," he apologized to Aela, leading her away from Cry's cell.

"She never has been," Aela said with a shrug.

Hircine stopped once they reached the center of the camp. He scrutinized her up and down. "You were one who was always true to the blood," he murmured quietly.

"I have," Aela assured. "And now I want to prove that I'm true."

"Aela?" The huntress turned at an achingly familiar voice, and her heart stopped when she recognized the white-haired male standing a few feet away.

"Skjor?"

The warrior grinned at her, and Hircine shook his head, grabbing Aela's arm. "I'll be watching you, Aela," he muttered in warning before he was gone.

Aela and Skjor gazed at one another for a moment before Aela shook her head. "I can't believe it's you."

"Bet you thought you'd seen the last of me, didn't you?" Skjor asked, doing a slow spin. "Well, here I am." He stops spinning and fixes her with a look. "And here _you_ are."

"Here I am," Aela managed.

"What are you doing here, anyway?" Skjor questioned. He grew pale. "You didn't die, did you?"

"No!" Aela responded, shaking her head. "No, I'm-I'm still alive. I'm here to fight." _He doesn't need to know for which side._

Skjor laughed. Gods, she's missed that laugh. "Good to hear. I was pretty upset to hear that Cry was here, though. I didn't know we would be fighting the living Companions."

"Hircine wants to take down _every_ Companion," Aela hissed under her breath. Skjor gave her a look, and she shook her head to clear her thoughts. "You're here, though."

"Yes, I am. I was here right after those damn Silver Hands took my life from me." Skjor shook his head. "Such a stupid way to die."

"But it wasn't," Aela told him. "You were doing your duty as a Companion."

"Aela, it was a victory run," Skjor reminded her. "A victory run we took because we had managed to convince Cry to take the blood. And look where it has gotten us both. Me, dead, and you here to fight for wolves who are also dead." He snorts. "Not to mention Cry, who's being held like an animal with a collar of silver around her neck."

"Her own mistake," Aela muttered, catching glimpses of some werewolves who were giving them dirty looks, "for taking the blood back."

"She did like a true wolf would have," Skjor replied. "To protect her pack."

"Farkas and Vilkas do not view themselves as Cry's pack," said Aela. She kicks at the red ground with her boot before lifting her eyes back up to Skjor's. "Were you part of the ambush?"

"No," Skjor admitted. "I was healing from the wounds I received from a fight the night before."

"You kill him?" Aela asked, interested, and Skjor shook his head.

"Lucky Nord got away before I could. Hircine killed him later on, after he had attacked Cry in the woods."

_Benolak._ Aela's shoulders dropped and straightened. "Good for him."

"He must be wishing he had just let him kill her, huh?" Skjor mused, shrugging. "Since she betrayed him and all."

"She betrayed you," Aela said, brow furrowing. "Not just Hircine."

"True, she did lead some of my pack members to an ambush, but she was only following the orders of her true leader," he responded. "In the end, it's all about loyalty to those who truly love you."

"You don't believe Hircine loved her as he does us?" Aela queried, tilting her head.

"Not _her_," Skjor answered. "Her power, sure, but not Cry." He grins. "He still loves her power, but he never loved her. Now Vilkas… Vilkas loved her. I always knew he did, too."

"Yes, because I'm sure you know exactly what love looks like," Aela teased, smiling.

"I do," Skjor replied. "I hung around you enough, didn't I?"

Aela tensed. "I didn't love you," she grumbled. "Like a shield-brother, sure, but never like the way Vilkas loves Cry."

"Pity," Skjor sighed unhappily, "because I thought we had something special."

"Did you?" Aela asked, her eyes shifting. "How unfortunate."

"Was I wrong?" Skjor questioned, an eyebrow raised.

"Like I said," Aela responded, back stepping a few paces, "unfortunate. Good seeing you, Shield Brother." She scurried away from him, shaking her head. She needed to get out of here, and away from Skjor, before her love for him overpowered her love for the Companions and for Cry.

* * *

**Now, you're all like, "Who the fuck is Riggo Drunk-Wave? He's not a canon character, Keeps! Get him out!" **

**Well, he's my brother's Skyrim character, and he wanted him in the story as a cameo, so here he is. **

**Also, I think I did upload on Saturday, so this is a day early.**

**Welp.**

**Thanks for reading anyway. **

**Bouncin'.**

**(Also this chapter is fucking long)**


	18. Chapter 18

**Hey look. It's late. Like normal.**

**Cool. **

* * *

Farkas marched across the clearing behind the front lines of Kodlak's army, his greatsword out and ready to kill some wolves. He had just fallen asleep, it seemed, and here he was, about to battle. And hopefully, _hopefully_, get closer to saving Cry.

Kodlak led the army to the center of the clearing before he stopped, and held up his hand to halt the others as well. Farkas stopped and brushed his way through the front lines to stand beside his old Harbinger. "Are they coming?" he asked.

"I don't know," Kodlak replied, eyes gazing the trees on the far side of the clearing. "I've brought everyone in the Hunting Ground tonight with us. I was hoping all of us here would attract the wolves."

"Well, unless they just haven't shown up yet," Tenla muttered on Kodlak's other side. "I don't think it has attracted them."

Farkas studied the trees, eyes narrowed so he could see easier. He was still getting used to having normal vision after five years of having perfect eyesight. The way Kodlak's eyes were narrowed, he could tell the dead Companion wasn't used to it yet, either. When nothing appeared after several minutes, Kodlak blinked a few times and shook his head. "I don't think anyone is coming, wolf or human."

There's a collective groan of disappointment from all of the Companions, living and dead. Farkas turned around, about to head back to the camp. Kodlak pulls on his armor before he could even leave the front lines, however, and turns him around. Farkas was going to complain, but then he saw the line of wolves, some werewolf and some normal, stalking out of the trees. Slowly, he raises his greatsword once more, ready.

"Companions," Kodlak murmured. "Hold until I say."

"Why?" Tenla hissed beside him.

"We need to be sure Cry isn't in there," he responded, quietly so only she and Farkas heard.

Farkas understood and studied the wolves, looking for Cry's distinctive honey-colored pelt. He went over the line twice before he subtly shook his head. Just in time, too, because on some unspoken command, the wolves all charged forward. "Companions attack!" Kodlak roared, running to meet them.

"YAAH!" A collective war cry rose from the army as they followed behind Kodlak. Farkas was right after him, and he clashed with a werewolf, claws hitting steel. Farkas broke off the connection, kicking the werewolf in the stomach. The creature flew backwards a few feet, and Farkas charged after it, bellowing.

"Die, wolf!" he screamed, lunging at it with his sword. The werewolf fended him off with a giant paw, brushing him aside. Farkas hit the ground, slightly winded, but uninjured. He hurried to his feet before the werewolf could claw at him, but the huge black creature was standing away from him, growling deeply but not attempting to hurt him.

"What are you doing?" Farkas demanded, holding up his sword. "Fight me!" The werewolf seemed to mutter something to itself before it turned and ran off towards the trees. "Hey!" Farkas shouted. "Get back here right now!"

He ran after the werewolf into the forest, gazing around momentarily for disturbed undergrowth. He noticed some broken to the right, and he pushed through it, following the trail. "Wolf! Get out here!" he ordered as the undergrowth opened into a small clearing. The werewolf was crouched in the center of the clearing. Farkas ran at it, sword forward, but stopped when the werewolf changed into a human in front of him.

"A-Aela?" he gasped, staggering backwards. Aela stood before him, naked.

"Gods dammit, Farkas!" she yelled. "You weren't supposed to follow me."

"Of course I was going to follow you!" he replied angrily. "What would Kodlak think if I let a werewolf escape?"

There's a roar from the trees nearby, and another werewolf burst through the trees, running right for Farkas. Aela changed back before it could reach him, and stepped before it. Snarling, she forces the werewolf backwards away from the Companion.

She transformed into a human again and held out her arms. "Are you seriously going to kill Farkas?" she hissed. "I'm standing right here. You kill him, you're going to have to kill me, too."

The werewolf changed into the last person Farkas expected to see. "Skjor?"

"I don't want to kill either of you," the dead Companion responded unhappily. Farkas turned away so he wasn't looking at their naked bodies as Skjor went on, "I don't want Hircine to kill me!"

"He won't if he doesn't know that we were here," Aela told him.

"Or that you guys were naked," Farkas added, feeling very awkward. "Speaking of which, I know we all used to live in the same place, but uh, I never thought I would see your arses. They're very nice, by the way. Both of them. Can I leave now?"

"Tell Kodlak that I know where Cry is," Aela ordered. "She's being held in the camp."

"Why can't you tell him yourself when you wake up?" Farkas asked, suddenly interested.

He turned around despite their current nakedness, and saw that Aela had stiffened. "I can't wake up, Farkas."

"What do you mean?" Farkas questioned. "He can't keep you here, can he?"

"Farkas, get back to the fight," Skjor commanded. "Do what Aela told you. I'll keep her safe, I promise."

"You don't have to keep me safe," Aela muttered under her breath. Skjor grinned but looked over at Farkas.

"Go."

Farkas picked up his sword and sprinted out of the clearing, wanting to get away from the two naked werewolves. He was about to go back into the clearing when he realized that his sword was blood free. Grunting, he cut open his arm and slathered some of the blood onto his blade before hurrying back out into the clearing.

Tenla was trapped under a wolf nearby. He hurries over to her and sends the animal flying with a kick, helping Tenla to her feet. "Don't fall back down," he said.

She nodded once and hurried after the wolf that had brought her down. Farkas turned back around to find another wolf of his own, and spotted Vilkas stuck beneath a werewolf. "Vilkas!" he shouted, hurrying towards his brother. Before he could reach him, however, a gray wolf leaps in front of him, snarling.

Farkas, raised his greatsword and swung at the wolf. It dodged neatly, hopping to one side. Before Farkas could turn around, it jumped forward, latching onto his arm. "Augh!" Farkas howled, shaking his arm desperately to get it off.

The wolf's jaw only clamped tighter, and Farkas swung his sword desperately with one hand, trying to at least hit the wolf. It was an attempt in vain, and the sword fell from his hand onto the blood-stained ground. Farkas reached around and tugged at the wolf's scruff with is empty hand, and growled in pain as pulling on the wolf pulled on his arm as well.

He had no other choice but to try and crush the wolf beneath him. As he situated himself to lie down on top of the creature, another wolf flew in from the corner of his eye and knocked the gray one off of him. Farkas stumbled in the direction the two wolves flew, and he fell to his knees before he could regain his balance. Another wolf was on him in an instant.

(*)

Vilkas saw the wolf attack his brother, and that gave him enough strength to shove his greatsword through the werewolf on top of him. As the creature's blood splattered his face and the body forward on top of him, Vilkas pulled his sword out of the werewolf's belly and pushed it off of him.

Farkas's greatsword fell from his fingers, and Vilkas's own dropped from his hand as his hand disappeared and turned into a paw. Before he knew it, Vilkas was on the ground as a wolf, and charging toward his brother and the wolf attacking his arm. He rammed into the gray animal and flew halfway across the clearing with it. When they both hit the ground, Vilkas rolling away from it, the wolf scrambled upright before the Companion could, snarling.

Vilkas jumped to his own paws, growling deeply. The two wolves circled one another slowly, each baring their teeth at the other. Finally, like Vilkas was counting on, Farkas dove in a shoved his greatsword through the gray wolf's neck. Blood went everywhere as the wolf cried out and fell to the ground, dead.

Vilkas padded over to the dead wolf and snarled down at it before glancing at Farkas. His twin nodded to him once, and Vilkas dipped his head back before he turned and ran off to find something else to kill. The way he saw it, every wolf he killed tonight would bring him closer to Cry.

He couldn't exactly shift back into a human and fight naked, so he charged at a wolf attacking a ghost Companion and pulled it off of him, dragging it backwards. The Companion gazed at him in confusion, but Farkas grabbed him by the shoulder and murmured something in his ear. The Companion looked at Vilkas for a moment longer before nodding and running off. Vilkas killed the wolf he had by the scruff and looked around for another wolf to attack.

"Vilkas!" He stopped when he heard Farkas running after him. He looked up at his twin and Farkas motioned for him to change. "Please. I know you're naked, but I got your armor right here. Kodlak knows about you, but if the rest of the Companions find out, we may have a riot on our hands."

Vilkas tilted his head at him, trying to communicate to his brother through his eyes. He wanted to change back, but if he stayed a wolf, it would be easier to kill other wolves. Farkas stared down at him for a moment before he sighed and nodded. "Alright brother. Do what you need to do. Just… Please don't attack anything that's eating a ghost."

Vilkas barked at him in response and turned back around. There was a wolf stalking to jump on a Companion who was already fighting a werewolf. Vilkas sprinted forward, head lowered, and bowled the wolf over before it could attack the Companion from behind.

Before he could finish it off, however, a howl erupts from somewhere in the clearing. All the wolves on Hircine's side lifted their heads to howl in response before they all raced away from their individual fights into the trees. Vilkas knew it was his chance. He ran after them, acting like he belonged with them. He was going to get to Aela, and together, they were going to save Cry. All he had to do was act the part of the wolf until the time was right.

(*)

Farkas saw Vilkas run into the trees after the rest of the wolves as though he belonged with them. He almost chased after him, but there was a hand on his shoulder before he could. "Let him go," Kodlak murmured next to him. "He knows what he's doing."

"Yeah," Farkas mumbled in response, looking down at Vilkas's abandoned greatsword and wolf armor. "When Vilkas knows what he's doing, things usually go wrong. Been that way since we were kids."

"Name one time when Vilkas did something he thought was right and something bad came from it," Kodlak ordered.

Farkas shrugged Kodlak's hand from his shoulder and picked up his brother's belongings. "When we went to get rid of your wolf blood," he began, turning to the old Harbinger, "and Cry left us for the Bards' College for two weeks."

Kodlak sighed and bowed his head. "He's going to bring her home, Farkas. Her and Aela."

"How can you be sure?" Farkas demanded, not caring that he was being sharp with his old Harbinger.

"Because he loves her," Kodlak replied easily, drifting away to talk to Tenla. Farkas let out a breath and turned to see the Companion Vilkas had saved from the wolf staring at him. Farkas jogs over to him and grabs him by the chin.

"Don't say _any_thing," he warned quietly.

"Fine," the Companion growled, jerking his head back and turning away.

Farkas clenched his fist and turned around to gaze around the clearing. The amount of dead wolves was overwhelming, and the grass on which they lay seemed redder than the rest of their surroundings. Farkas lifted his arm and realized that there was a large portion of his skin missing. "Uh, medic?" he called weakly as he gazed down at the exposed muscle. His eyes rolled into the back of his head, and he falls backwards, passing out.

* * *

**Ah, Farkas. Poor baby. **

**Also, battles! I can't write them!**

**Review for me, friends. Let's see if we can get 100 reviews before this story is over. I don't even know how many chapters are left to upload.**

**I'm also tired. **


	19. Chapter 19

**WOW! I'm early for once! This is amazing.**

**I also woke up at 10:30 and I'm probably gonna go pass out as soon as I upload this chapter! Cool!**

* * *

"Wake up!" Cry's cell shook violently as someone kicked it. Weakly, she opened her eyes to see one of Hircine's followers looking down at her. "We're gonna get your out of here, alright? You just need to hang on for a little bit longer."

"Hey, what are you doing over there?" someone shouted. The person leaned down closer for a moment, and Cry thought she recognized him.

"Don't die, Cry. You're going to be fine." Without warning, the man sprints away, leaving Cry alone once more. _Who was that?_ she thought wearily. She lifted her hand and touched her neck, only to find the silver collar still there. Her fingers burned at the contact they made with the metal, and she hissed, dropping her hand back to the floor of the cage.

How did that person, whoever he was, expect her to stay alive when she could barely move? Hircine had barely given her any food or water to live by, and when she moved to try and get it, she couldn't move more than three inches. And she was getting weaker every hour. The only thing that kept her alive was the dragon. It was getting weaker, too, but was still managing to keep the wolf away. At least, for the time being.

She groaned and rolled away from the front of the cage to face the rear, where she couldn't see anything occurring in the camp. All she wanted was to sleep. That was all she would ever want, as long as the silver collar stayed around her neck. Her eyes opened. The silver collar… If she could break it off…

Cry spots a rock just outside the bars of her cell. Slowly, she reaches for it and manages to wrap her finger around it. When she tried to pick it up to pull it into her cage, however, she couldn't muster enough strength to lift it. Or even drag it. That was when she realized there was nothing she could do to help herself.

"Cry?" Hircine's voice sent a spark of anger through her. She refused to turn around and look at him, and she closed her eyes so she wouldn't be tempted. She felt him crouch beside the cell, and then his gloved hand was against the silver collar to make sure it was still there. "Good," he murmured.

He backed away from the cell. "Well," Cry heard him say. "What are you standing there for? Go find something useful to do!"

There's the soft shuffling of a wolf padding away through the grass, and Hircine let out a breath. "Stupid wolves, can't keep their noses out of business that isn't theirs." Something falls over into the grass. "I see you're not strong enough to eat or drink," he commented. "I'm sorry, Cry, but I can't trust you without the silver collar. I don't know what you would do."

Cry didn't move, but Hircine crouched next to the cage once again. He reached over and rolled her over, opening her mouth. "Here," he said. "Drink." Water was poured into her mouth, and Cry opened her eyes to see him holding a cup over her, tilting it. Eagerly, she drank the water, the cool liquid moistening her parched throat and tongue. When she had finished the cup, Hircine put it down on the ground and called for more. He looked at her. "I know you don't really like me, but I want to keep you alive. I know you know why, too."

"Just let me die," Cry whispered, her voice hoarse from not using it.

Hircine smiled sadly down at her as one of his men approaches with jug of water. He pours some into the cup and lifts it again. Cry gazes at it momentarily, but turns her back to him with as much strength as she could muster. She wouldn't take any more water from him.

The Daedra behind her sighed and she heard him set the cup down on the inside of her cage. "You will break, eventually," he told her. "I know it."

Without another word, she heard him stalk away, leaving Cry alone to sob silently with the last of her strength. When it was gone, she curled up and went to sleep.

(*)

Aela found Vilkas before he found her. She recognized his scent from halfway across the camp of the wolves. With inhuman speed, she raced over to him and tackled the dark gray wolf into the trees surrounding the camp. They rolled over for a few minutes before she finally stopped in a section of the forest without any trees.

She backs away from the wolf and glares into his steel gray eyes. "What in Ysgramor's name are you doing here?" she growled. Vilkas paced in front of her restlessly, refusing to change. She sighed and crossed her arms. "Vilkas, I've seen you naked more than once. We used to go swimming together, remember? Me, you, Farkas and Skjor? I don't care about indecency right now; what I care about is why you're here and about to ruin what I've been working for!"

With an unhappy whine, Vilkas stood up onto his hind legs, changing into his human form. He covered his valuables with his hands, glaring at her. "I came because I need to make sure she stays safe," he muttered.

Aela couldn't take his glare or his tone seriously when he was covering himself like a small boy. She grinned and shook her head. "I have it all under control. You need to get out of here before Hircine realizes that you're here."

"He won't," Vilkas promised. Without another word, he morphs back into his dark gray wolf and sprints away through the trees back to the camp.

"Vilkas!" Aela hissed after him. Sighing, she hurried after her Shield Brother, knowing that nothing she would say would change his mind. Cry was here, and as long as she was stuck in that cell with the silver collar around her throat, Vilkas wouldn't be waking up back in Jorrvaskr.

At least they had Skjor on their side. The dead Companion had sworn to her that he would help Cry get out of the camp, but after that, they had to be on separate sides. "I'm not alive anymore," he had said solemnly. "The Companions no longer protect me as they once did."

It made Aela sad to see him that way, knowing that she could wake up and go home whenever she wanted, while he was stuck underground outside an abandoned Silver Hand camp. She'd buried him there herself, unable to bring him home for the customary burning on the Skyforge. Gods knew he had deserved a proper Companion ritual, but it hadn't been possible.

He forgave her for that, at least. "I never expected you to take me back to Jorrvaskr," he'd told her when she had apologized for burying him outside of the Silver Hand's camp. "As I lay dying there on that damned table, I thought to myself, "Aela's going to keep fighting these bastards after she disposes of me in the woods.""

"I didn't want to leave you out there," she swore to him, but Skjor had waved her off.

"I belonged out in the woods, anyway. No matter how I was honored in death, I was always going to end up here."

Aela realized now that ending up in the Hunting Ground wasn't something she longed for any longer. Seeing how Hircine treated his wolves and other worshippers, she understood that she would rather be in Shor's Hall, with Ysgramor and the original 500 Companions. Skjor belonged there, too, as did Vilkas, and Farkas and Cry. And Kodlak.

Kodlak belonged there more than anyone else that she knew did, she'd decided. Picking up a weapon against a Daedra was no matter for someone who wasn't a true warrior. And all true warriors belonged in Shor's Hall. As pure warriors, and not warriors tainted with the blood of the wolf. Tenla hadn't been lying when she'd said all wolves did was kill and eat. It seemed that's all she had been doing since she had fallen asleep and come to the Hunting Ground.

Hunt. Kill. Eat.

Hunt. Kill. Eat.

Rest.

Hunt. Kill. Eat.

The cycle never ended. Aela had killed at least twelve ghost Companions since she had been in the Hunting Ground. Luckily, she hadn't known any of their names. But as she killed each one, she remembered Benolak, and how he had been attacked by Skjor, and killed by Hircine himself. _If I knew them, _she thought as she tore out their throats with her long, werewolf claws, _would I feel bad? Would I feel as though I was killing my own brother or my own sister? _

She swore that for every Companion she killed, she would kill a wolf in real life. It was only then that she understood that the wolves in real life weren't the threat. It was the wolves in the Hunting Ground that needed to be killed instead. As she pushed her way through the trees back into the clearing that served as the camp, she silently cursed Vilkas for showing up and ruining her plan. She had been thinking that she would get Cry out the night after tonight, mainly by luring Hircine away with Skjor and then freeing Cry in whatever way she could at the time.

Now that Vilkas had shown up, however, she needed to find a way to get _him_ out too. Perhaps, however, having Vilkas around would make things easier. She could make him and Skjor feign a fight that Hircine would have to deal with while she freed Cry. She shook her head as soon as the thought entered her mind. No, that wouldn't work. Hircine would punish Skjor. She wanted to get this done _without_ Skjor getting in trouble with the Daedra.

She needed to talk to Kodlak and Farkas. But she couldn't go back. Hircine would get suspicious.

She paused, eyeing a dark gray wolf from across the clearing. Perhaps Vilkas _would_ be useful for something… If she could convince him to leave Cry for an hour.

Vilkas's eye caught with hers, and he trotted across the clearing to her. She leaned bent down to speak in his ear, "Wake up and tell Kodlak that I have a plan. I need them to plan another battle."

Vilkas growled at her in response, jumping away from her. Clearly he didn't want to leave Cry. "It'll only be a short amount of time, Vilkas!" she told him, fixing him with a steady amber gaze. "Just tell them to plan a battle to be held tomorrow night. After that, you can come right back. I need to tell you what I'm planning on doing, anyway."

He barked something at her, but she could read it all in his gray eyes. She nods. "Yes, it involves you killing Hircine."

That was enough for him. Without another noise, he turned tail and scurried for the trees so he could wake up without being noticed. Aela let out a breath and skimmed the camp for Skjor. She needed to tell him her plan, too, because she was going to need his help.

(*)

Farkas waited by Vilkas's side for his brother to arouse, even though Kodlak had told him he wouldn't. Farkas refused to believe Vilkas had gone to the Hunting Ground to just stay there without trying to figure anything out. He loved Cry, sure, but if he really loved her, he would find out what he needed to save her and come right back to tell them.

Vilkas stirred before him, and Farkas's eyes brightened. See? He knew his twin.

Vilkas's eyes opened, and noticed Farkas sitting beside him. "Go get Kodlak," his brother commanded. "Aela has a plan."

Farkas nodded without question and scurried to find his old Harbinger. He sprinted down the hall of the living quarters and up the stairs to find him holding counsel at the mead hall table. He waits off to the side until Kodlak noticed him. The ghost waves him over, and Farkas steps forward. "Vilkas woke up," he told him quietly. "He said Aela has a plan."

Kodlak nodded once, and summoned Tenla with a head nod before following Farkas down into the living quarters. Farkas led them to the Harbinger's quarters where Vilkas lay next to Cry. His brother had sat up on his pillows, and dipped his head to all three of them as they entered.

"What news?" Kodlak queried, taking Farkas's chair.

"Hircine is keeping Cry in a cell at the back of his camp," said Vilkas. "He has her weakened by a collar of silver around her neck."

"Of course," Tenla muttered, crossing her arms.

Vilkas glared at her but went on, "Aela asked me to tell you to plan another battle."

"Did she say why?" Kodlak questioned, exchanging a glance with the Redguard beside him.

Vilkas shook her head. "She needs it to be tomorrow night. Can I tell her it's possible, or does she need to rethink her plan?"

"It's possible," Tenla replied, "but I want to know just what this plan is."

"I don't know myself, Tenla," Vilkas responded. "If I did, I would tell you. Believe me."

"Really? Because you didn't tell us when you took the blood to keep Cry safe," Tenla remarked. "And you couldn't even do that."

Vilkas's fist tightened around the blanket on top of him. Farkas placed a hand on his shoulder briefly, and Vilkas's hand unclenched, slowly. "I'm doing my best," he growled under his breath. "That's why I would like to get back to the Hunting Ground as soon as possible. Can a battle happen tomorrow night or can't it?"

Kodlak and Tenla look at one another, and, like Farkas and Cry had done so many times, seemed to have a silent discussion with their eyes. He had done that even more with Vilkas, but the two hadn't talked silently with one another in ages. Or so it seemed.

Actually, they had talked silently, the night before during the battle, when Vilkas had been a wolf and Farkas a human. Farkas had been able to read his brother's eyes without him actually saying anything. It was a great thing, being so close to someone that you could tell what they wanted to say without them even having to open their mouths.

Finally, Kodlak turned back to Vilkas. "Fine. Tell Aela that we will have a battle patrol waiting in the same clearing we fought in last night. If a patrol doesn't come to meet us, we will come back to Jorrvaskr to wait for another plan. Clear?"

Vilkas nods and takes Farkas's hand with his own. "Punch me."

Farkas's eyes widened. "What?" he demanded.

"I need you to punch me so I fall back asleep," Vilkas replied, unscathed by his twin's obvious rage.

Kodlak and Tenla take their leave without another word, leaving Farkas alone with his brother. He shakes his head. "I'm not sending you back there."

"Farkas," said Vilkas patiently, "Cry is in the Hunting Ground. You want to make sure she stays safe, don't you?"

"Of course!" Farkas replied quickly. "But I don't need you getting injured in the process. If Hircine realizes you're there, Divines know what he might do."

Vilkas gazed at him with darker eyes than his own, but still gray in color. "If you refuse to help, then get out of here," he growled at last, releasing Farkas's hand.

"Brother-" Farkas began.

"Out!" Vilkas barks, pointing angrily to the door. "And do us both a favor; don't wait for me to wake back up this time."

Vilkas rolls over onto his side, facing away from Farkas and looking at Cry instead. Farkas watches as his brother's hand rests lightly on her shoulder. Farkas bowed his head and dragged his feet as he left the Harbinger's quarters, shutting both sets of doors as he went.

If Vilkas wanted to be alone, that was fine. But Farkas wasn't going to let him die without any help. He went looking for Kodlak, and found him and Tenla both back at the mead hall table. "Harbinger," Farkas said. Kodlak raised his eyes to look at him, and Farkas blinked once. "I want to be a part of the battle tomorrow night."

"Of course you will be," Kodlak responded immediately.

"No, not just _in_ the battle," Farkas told him. "I want to lead the battle patrol."

Kodlak studied him for a solid moment. "That's very courageous of you, Farkas," he said at last. "Wouldn't it be best, however, if you were in the rear, so you could sneak away and help Vilkas if he needs it?"

Farkas shook his head. "I want to lead the patrol," he muttered, "and I want to be the one to kill Hircine."

* * *

**Well. That's... Cool. **

**But Farkas, Daedra don't die. **

**...**

**Uh oh.**


	20. Chapter 20

**Yooooo.**

**So, my computer is breaking as I type, and by breaking I mean Windows stops responding every few hours, so I'm uploading while I'm having the time to do so.**

**Please laptop stay alive until November, when I get my new computer for my birthday?**

**Thanks.**

* * *

Vilkas padded across the clearing of the werewolf camp as a wolf, looking around for Aela. He couldn't smell her here; there were too many wolf scents to take it. Thankfully, he spotted her standing near the back of the camp. Hircine must have been testing her by putting her on guard duty for Cry's cage.

He couldn't go back there. He'd seen what Cry looked like the day before, when he had stood behind Hircine as he spoke to her. She was barely alive, it had seemed. He had been more than willing to get away when Hircine told him to go find something useful to do. Little did the Daedra know that the useful thing he was doing was planning on how to get Cry _out_ of that cage.

Vilkas waves his tail at Aela as he casually passed by her, signifying that Kodlak had agreed to the battle. Aela blinked at him twice. It was subtle enough, but he understood that it meant she had seen him. The Companion continued by at a slow trot so he didn't look like he was anxious. Could a wolf even look anxious? To Hircine, probably.

Vilkas sat down on his haunches and gazed around the clearing. He didn't see the Daedric Prince anywhere. Perhaps he was off convening with his brothers. All the same, he wasn't going to take any chances. Slowly, he stood and padded over towards Aela again, and towards Cry at the same time. Aela glared down at him in false annoyance. "Get out of here. You know no one sees the Dragonborn."

Vilkas whined at her and waved his tail. Aela rolled her eyes. "Fine, but just to check if she needs more water." She stepped to the side, and Vilkas slid past her, eyes locking on the cage immediately. Gingerly, he creeps up to it and pokes his nose through the bars. Cry was curled up into a tight ball, her eyes closed tight. Vilkas nosed at her briefly to try and stir her, but Cry didn't budge. He might as well have been trying to awaken her in the real world.

The silver collar around her neck glinted dangerously. Vilkas could only imagine what her skin looked like underneath it. Gently, he nudges her again, not expecting a reaction. However, Cry did usually do the unexpected, so it wasn't a shock when she hit him across the muzzle.

"Leave me alone, you stupid dog!" she ordered, her voice hoarse from disuse.

Vilkas shook his head to get rid of the pain she had given him, and blinked at her. She didn't seem to understand that he was himself, because she continued to glare at him. After a moment, he whined and sat down outside her cell, tilting his head at her.

Cry was clearly unamused. "What do you want?"

He had hoped his eyes were enough to tell her, but apparently they weren't. He paws at the bars on the cell and wagged his tail a few times.

If Cry hadn't been weak, she would have been able to tell his was him by his scent, but the silver collar was not doing much for her senses. She gaped at him emptily, obviously wondering why this wolf was still sitting in front of her cage. "If you're not going to torment me, get out of here," she grumbled after a moment.

In response, Vilkas reached into her cell and gently closed his teeth around her finger. Cry was obviously confused, but she didn't pull her finger from his mouth. Vilkas turned his eyes to hers again, hoping that he had her attention fully this time.

Just meeting his eyes with hers dispelled some of the fire that was burning weakly in her blue-gray gaze. "Vilkas…" she murmured softly, reaching out with her other hand to stroke his fur. "What are you doing here?"

Vilkas released her finger and let out a quiet bark. He wanted to tell her that he would get her out of here, but he didn't want to change. She was glad he was here, he could tell that much, but she was also concerned for his safety. "You need to leave, Vilkas," she told him. "I don't want you getting hurt."

_But you're hurting more than I will, even if I get caught. _Vilkas continued to stare at her, and Cry sighed, putting her hand down. "Just… Don't do anything stupid, okay?'

Vilkas had to wag his tail at that. He did his best to nod at her and then he turned and padded away from her cell. At least he knew she was alive enough to talk with him. _Don't worry, Cry. I'm going to get you out of here, and kill that stupid Daedra in the process. _

(*)

Cry watched Vilkas walk away, silently wishing he hadn't left her. But he didn't want to seem suspicious, so she let him go without begging him to stay. Slowly, she returned to her lying position, the silver collar pressing against her neck with every movement. It seemed like it was getting tighter, but that was probably just because of the amount of pain it was giving her.

She reached for the tankard of water that had been left for her and takes a tiny sip. She didn't know when she'd be getting more, so she figured it was best to make due. Cry had long since decided she would take the dungeons in Whiterun over this any day. Not that she ever did anything to get her arrested, but all the same…

She missed Aela, even though she was in the camp with her, hopefully doing her best to get her out.

She really missed Farkas. Hopefully, he wasn't doing anything stupid with both her and Vilkas gone.

And she really, really missed Vilkas. Hircine had been right; separation right after intercourse was very painful. Cry wanted to be in his arms right at that moment, not caring how she had gotten there. She wanted him to be stroking her hair, murmuring to her softly. More than anything, she just wanted to be with him.

She set down the tankard on the ground again and pulled her knees against her chest. She was bored, too. All she did was sleep, mostly because that was all she could do. Sighing, she closed her eyes, about to go to sleep again, when she heard voices.

"Anything to report?" Hircine asked, probably the guard.

"Nothing, my lord." Aela. He was probably testing her.

"Good. Make sure it stays that way." Hircine approached her cell and smiled down at her. "How's everything going, little wolf?"

"I'm not little," Cry muttered. She hated him.

Hircine sensed her hostility, and he backed away from the cage a small amount. Clearly, he still feared the dragon. Thankfully for Cry, he didn't know the dragon wasn't doing so well. "Are you hungry, Cry?" the Daedric Prince asked after a moment.

Cry looked up at him, lifting an eyebrow. "I'm not strong enough to eat anything. Maybe if you took off this silver collar…"

"Nice try, love," said Hircine, cutting her off, "but I'm going to have to say no to that."

_Damn_. "It was worth the attempt," sighed Cry out loud.

"I would love to stay and talk with you, my dear," Hircine began, "but I must go prepare my wolves for tonight. We're taking the battle straight to Kodlak Whitemane's camp."

This sparked Cry's interest immediately. She mustered enough strength to sit up. "You figured out where it was?"

"Yes," Hircine said, waving her off. "And hopefully, it's the _real_ camp this time. One of my scouts found it when he was out last night."

Cry wasn't sure if this was the truth, or if this "scout" had actually been Vilkas or Aela. All the same, she didn't want to take any chances with Farkas's safety. "Just so we remember our deal," she started, fixing Hircine with a steady gaze. "You're not going to hurt Farkas, right? You'll leave him alone?"

"Ah, see, but that was _before_ you betrayed my trust," replied the Daedra. "So, that agreement is no longer in place."

Cry shouldn't have been annoyed, because what he was saying did make sense in a way that wasn't very good for her. But all the same, she was annoyed. However, she didn't try to argue. Instead, she merely nodded and leaned against the back of her cell. "Very well."

"Glad we understand each other." Hircine straightened up and walked off. Cry sighed and bowed her head, praying to the Divines that Farkas wouldn't be a part of this battle Hircine was talking about. Knowing him, the Companion would be asking Kodlak if he could lead the damn battle patrol.

Cry shook her head and let out a quiet breath. Whatever Farkas managed to do, it was also honorable. She remembered what he had told her, after she'd returned to Jorrvaskr from hiding out at the Bards' College in Solitude. "You seem honorable, so that's good."

_Yeah, and you're way more honorable than I am, buddy._ Cry thought back to why she'd left Skyrim to travel in the first place. A city on fire, and all because of her. A name change and a hair color alteration had been enough to hide her from the past, but she could never forget it.

There was no time to dwell on what had happened before. It was all about the now, and the future. Whatever happened that night would surely affect whether she would be released from the cell, or kept in there for even longer. Hopefully, the Companions would win, and she would be free.

If there was something Cry wanted more than anything, it was to set a few wolves on fire.

* * *

**Also, I think this chapter is kind of short.**

**Oh well.**

**Peace out, thugs.**


	21. Chapter 21

**We're getting down to the wire here, folks. Also Farkas has a cool battle speech in this. Cool stuff.**

* * *

"Listen here, my pets!" Hircine called across the clearing. All of the wolves and werewolves alike turned to look at him, Aela included. He was standing on a rock, and as soon as he had everyone's attention, he clapped his hands together. "Thank you. Now, like I told you, one of our own has discovered the true location of the Companion's camp."

A few of his followers reached over and slapped Skjor on the back. Aela did as well, even though she knew that he had told Hircine where the camp was for her. Skjor waved his hand towards Hircine to redraw the attention to the Daedric Prince, who was waiting patiently on his rock.

When the cheers had died down, Hircine went on, "Because of this discovery, I've decided that we are going to go out and finish this meaningless war once and for all!" Several more cheers of encouragement. Hircine held up his hand for silence, and the crowd hushed. "Understand, I would prefer to have never had this war occur, but the Companions chose that they did not accept the great gift that had been blessed unto them. I would like you all to remember that, as you're out there fighting one of them today. Remember that it was their decision to pick this fight. Not yours, and certainly not mine. Theirs."

A few scattered howls from shifted people greeted his words. Hircine waited for them to die down and then went on. "Those Companions are very brave. I give them props. One does not simply pick a fight against a Daedric Prince." He grinned wickedly. "And it's even harder for one to win!"

This time, Hircine shouted over the howls, "Let's go and rekill every single one of those dead Companions. We'll see how much they enjoy Shor's Hall then!"

He strolls towards the back of the camp where Cry's cage was held while the wolves around Aela all started towards the trees to make wave for the Companions' camp. Skjor lingered behind, leaning over to talk in her ear. "I'll make sure no one notices you're missing. As soon as you've freed Cry, come to the camp. The Companions are going to need as much help as they can get, and I have a feeling Cry will be the deciding factor in who wins the war."

Aela nodded, and Skjor started to follow after the others. Before he got too far, however, Aela reached out and took his arm. Skjor stopped and glanced over his shoulder at her. Aela looked down at the ground. "What if this is it?"

Skjor shrugged. "Then this is it. We got to say goodbye for true this time around." He grinned at her, winking his blind eye. "Keep up the fight, Shield-Sister."

With that, Skjor turned into a werewolf and ran off after the others. Aela watched him go, shoulders slumped. Sadly, she lifts a hand and waved after him. "And you, Shield-Brother," she said softly.

She turned and walked towards the back of the camp, where Hircine had gone, and ducked behind a rock to listen to what he was saying to Cry.

"I'll give you one last chance to fight for your pack," the Daedra said.

Aela heard her Harbinger laugh. "If you think _this_ is my pack, you're sadly mistaken, Daedra."

Hircine let out an audible sigh. "Very well. I'll come deal with you once I'm done dealing with your _Shield-Siblings._" He managed to make the word a curse. His voice grew closer as he appeared beside the two guards blocking the entrance to the small clearing where Cry's cage was. "Make sure she doesn't try anything." He laughed. "Not that she can."

Hircine's guards remained near the cell as the Daedra walked past Aela's hiding spot. The huntress waited for him to exit the camp before walking over to the guards watching over Cry's cell. The one on the left lifted an eyebrow at her approach, but didn't get a chance to say anything because the she punched him directly in the face.

"Hey!" his partner exclaimed. Before he could react further, Aela round-housed kicked him in the jaw. He fell over on top of the guard that was already on the ground, and Aela brushed off her hands.

"Good," she muttered, spitting on them. She headed into the area where Cry's cell was, and saw that her Harbinger was curled up on the floor of her cage. "Cry!" she hissed, trying to get her attention.

The Nord rolled over and blinked at her. "Aela?" she asked, her eyes rheumy with tears.

"Yeah, it's me. Don't worry, I took care of the guards. I'll get you out of there as soon as I find some gloves," Aela told her.

"Ahem," growled a deep voice behind her. "I think you missed one."

In response, Aela kicked backwards, landing it in the guard's manhood. He howled, and Aela whipped around, successfully punching him in the nose. It crunched beneath her fingers as the guard spun around a bit, blinked once, went cross eyed, and then fell to the grass in a heap.

"Thanks for telling me," said Aela, looking down at him. She lifted her head, gazing around for some gloves before spotting them on a table nearby. She hurried over and slid them on before returning to the cage. She easily knocked away the steel padlock and pulled open the door before gently reaching around to peel off the silver collar.

Aela unlatched it and pulled it away, flinging it off into the trees once it was off of Cry. She bit her lip when she turned back to look at her Harbinger. Cry's neck had a deep gash all around it that was oozing unhappily with blood. It looked like a mix between a burn mark and a cut.

However, Cry barely seemed to notice her neck was bleeding. She dragged herself out of the cell, shaking out her limbs before slowly climbing up to her feet. Aela reached over to support her weight, but Cry shrugged her off. "Where are we going?" she demanded.

Aela pointed in the direction the wolf army had gone. Without a word, Cry lifted her head to the bloody sky and shouted, "_Fus… Roh Dah!" _A blue burst of energy flew from her mouth into the sky, and Aela grinned. The Dragonborn was back.

(*)

"Are you sure you're ready for this, fleshy?" Riggo Drunk-Wave teased him. "After all, you're still a whelp compared to the rest of us."

Farkas gave Vilkas's old mentor a glare before turning to face the rest of the battle troupe behind him. "Companions!" he said, lifting his voice above those of the dead Companions. A few of the ghosts near the front lines stopped talking and turned to listen, but the rest remained chatting to their neighbors.

Farkas swallowed. He'd never led a battle patrol before. He glanced over at Tenla, who was standing on his right. She lifted an eyebrow at him, clearly saying that he better get things under control, and quick.

"Everyone!" Farkas called, louder than before. This got a bit more attention, but there were still scattered voices about the patrol. He let out a slow breath, trying to think of what Cry would do in this situation. She would general just send a _Fus Roh Dah_ into the sky to get their attention. Unfortunately, Farkas didn't have that capability.

Another glance towards Tenla proved that if he didn't do something soon, she was going to take over. Farkas cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, "Companions! Listen here!"

_That_ got everyone's attention. They all shut up and turned to look at him. Seeing them all staring at him fueled Farkas into knowing what he was going to say. "Now, I know I probably don't need to give you a battle speech, because you all want to fight anyway, but I'm gonna do it just because I've always wanted too."

This receives some laughter, and Farkas's breathing eases. "You shouldn't be fighting for honor or for glory because the Companions have enough honor and glory to buy a second Jorrvaskr to sit right next to Shor's Hall. No, you should fight because you _are_ the Companions, and Hircine has no right to control anyone who is a part of you!"

Farkas gestures vaguely out into the distance behind the battle patrol. "Those are proud and brave wolves who are planning on attacking our camp, for that Daedra's benefit." Once he was sure everyone was looking at him, he pulls his greatsword off his back and says, "Let's go kill them!"

"YAH!" His words are met by a war cry that rises up from all the Companions in the patrol, and they turn around to face the entrance to the clearing where the camp resided. There was a nudge against his shoulder, and Farkas glances sideways to see Tenla was nodding approvingly at him.

Farkas couldn't help himself but grin, and he turned to face forward once more. It was time to kill some wolves.

There was an eerie moment of silence as the wolves and werewolves appeared, all lined up and ready for battle. There was an even eerier pause as both armies stared at each other until Hircine pushed his way forward. He himself wasn't a wolf or a werewolf. Instead, he had chosen to appear as his normal self. His head turns as he skims the army of ghost Companions before his own army, and then he turned his back to them and lifted his hand.

The signal was enough. Immediately, the clearing broke out into a frenzy as ghostly blades hit against wolfish teeth and claws. Snarls and shouts alike rang around the clearing, seeming to echo from one end to the other. Farkas dove forward and swung his greatsword around in a wide arc, sending two wolves flying at once.

He turned and hit a werewolf that was barreling forward to attack him, his steel blade digging deep into the creature's side. Farkas had to yank it out once the werewolf was dead on the ground. Huffing, he spun around and glared around the clearing, trying to spot the one enemy he knew he wanted to kill for sure.

Hircine had seemed to vanish from the fight, however. His stupid stag-masked face was nowhere to be seen. Grumbling to himself, Farkas whipped his arm out and cut a wolf across the muzzle. The dog let out a weak yelp that Farkas cut off by shoving his greatsword through the wolf's throat. He pulled it out with a huff and kicked the wolf's body away from him.

_I have a Daedra to find._

* * *

**More short chapters! Cool! The next one is pretty long, if I'm remembering correctly... Yeah, I think so.**

**Go get some cotton candy or something. Good stuff. **


	22. Chapter 22

**20 minutes late. **

**Cool.**

**Let's mosey.**

* * *

Vilkas watched Hircine move through the battle ranks that were running forward to meet the line of dead Companions. He should have known that the Daedra wasn't actually going to do any fighting. He was probably going to make his way back to the camp they had just left in order to keep an eye on Cry.

Vilkas was about to follow, when suddenly a very familiar "_Fus… Roh Dah!" _caused the battle to pause. The shout was followed by a ball of blue light that lit up the sky for several moments, and Vilkas watched Hircine's face change from one of victory to one of pure horror. Vilkas knew why; Cry was free.

Immediately, the Daedric Prince changed into a wolf form and started to race towards the trees as the fighting resumed around him. Vilkas sprinted after him, glad for his four limbs for once. His age was clearly something to be grateful for, because he easily caught up to Hircine and barreled him off the path the wolf army had made into a small side clearing.

Vilkas jumped away from the black wolf and stood to the side, waiting. Wolf Hircine shook his head a few times before he climbed back to his paws and turned to face Vilkas. The two wolves stared at each other for a full minute before Hircine lifted his muzzle and let out a literal bark of laughter.

Vilkas tilted his head as Hircine changed back into his masked man form, confused. The Daedra was still laughing when the change was done, and he let out a sigh. "Oh, I should have known. You've been here the whole time, haven't you?" Hircine queried once he was done.

Vilkas merely narrowed his eyes at the Daedra and dug his claws into the ground. Hircine nodded. "I can't believe I didn't realize it. Tell me, Vilkas, how long have you been hiding right under my nose? In my own camp?"

Vilkas whipped his tail back and forth angrily, baring his teeth in a snarl. Hircine laughed again. "You plan on killing me, don't you? Well, Vilkas, I'm afraid that I have to be the one to tell you this, but I don't plan on dying just yet."

Without another word, Hircine dove at him, changing into a wolf as he did so. Vilkas barely had time to jump out of the way, and Hircine hit the ground where he had just been standing. Almost as quickly as he had fallen, the Daedra was back on his paws and biting at him.

Vilkas lifted his paw and swiped at Hircine's muzzle. The Daedric Prince ducked his head, and Vilkas missed, instead earning a bite to his foreleg. He snarled at the pain and pulled out of Hircine's grasp, diving in. He managed to grab Hircine by the scruff and fling the scrawnier wolf across the clearing towards the side furthest away from the wolf camp. He knew that Hircine was going to try and reach Cry before she made it too the fight.

All Vilkas needed to do was keep the Daedra away from her for a little bit longer. Just the tiniest amount. Hircine appeared to realize that Vilkas understood what he wanted to do, and he climbed to his paws slowly, baring his yellowed teeth at him. Vilkas returned the snarl, tempting him to try and get around him.

Hircine darted to the left, and immediately dodged back to the right. Vilkas saw this move coming and shoved Hircine backwards. The Daedra staggered back, growling a warning. Vilkas ignored it and shot in, grabbing the wolf by the throat and shaking him roughly.

Hircine managed to pull out of his grasp and stalk away, pacing back and forth angrily. He understood that Vilkas wasn't letting him leave the clearing. Vilkas watched him walk back at forth, waiting for another move. _Hurry, Cry._

Because he was busy thinking, he didn't notice Hircine dart right past him into the trees. Vilkas snarled to himself in anger before sprinting after the Daedra. Hircine led him all the way back to the wolf camp, and he raced towards the area where Cry's cell was.

Vilkas knew that there was no point in being here when he saw the two guards piled on top of each other, and a third lying on the ground in front of the cage. An empty cage.

_Good job, Aela._

Hircine growled deeply in his throat and whipped around. His claws dug into the ground as he studied Vilkas with blazing gray eyes. He was not pleased, and that made Vilkas very happy.

He turned around and waved his tail at the Daedra tauntingly. Unfortunately, he didn't take into account that Hircine probably would use his back being turned as an advantage, and so it was too late when Vilkas tried to turn and the black wolf was already on top of him. They rolled out of the tiny clearing containing Cry's now empty cage and stopped just before the entrance to the camp, Hircine holding him against the blood-red grass.

Vilkas, fueled by the idea that Cry was out of the cage and most likely on her way to Farkas and the other Companions, was able to force all his weight upwards. Hircine fell to the grass beside him, and Vilkas hurried to his paws before the Daedra could stand. The Companion reached down and grabbed Hircine's scruff in his teeth and began to drag the Daedric Prince out of the camp.

Hircine struggled against his grip, but Vilkas had fur and skin in his hold, and he wasn't about to let go. He managed to pull the black wolf to the clearing they had previously been fighting in throw him to the far end, away from the gap in the trees that showed the path. If Hircine managed to get on that path and work his way to the fight, there would be no chance of stopping him from getting to Cry then.

Vilkas _had_ to keep him in the clearing this time, without any hesitation.

(*)

Cry was sprinting towards the clearing where the battle was being held as fast as her weak legs would carry her. Aela was running in front of her as a werewolf; she'd said it be easier to kill things with long claws since she didn't have a weapon on her.

Cry understood entirely. She would have to fight as a wolf because she didn't have her greatsword with her, as well as no armor. In fact, all she was wearing was a tunic.

The two Companions burst into the clearing at the same time, and Cry spotted Farkas attacking a wolf immediately. Aela had already run off to join the fight, and so Cry hurried over to Farkas. The wolf had knocked him down, and, due to a wound on his leg, Farkas wasn't able to get back up. The wolf was slowly coming forward, licking its jowls hungrily.

"Farkas!" Cry shouted, her speed getting quicker. Her friend glanced back at her.

"Cry, don't!" he warned, but covers his head as she leaps over him, changing into a wolf as she did so. She hit the ground with her front paws first, snarling at the wolf that had been about to attack her friend. The wolf blinked in surprise, and that gave Cry enough time to jump in and pull out its throat.

The blood was metallic in her mouth, but she ignored it and hurried over to Farkas's side, whimpering as she pokes at his bloody leg with her nose. Farkas rubs her head reassuringly. "I'm good, C," he said. "Don't worry about me."

Another wolf was stalking towards them, and Cry turned around and snarled dangerously at it. The wolf whines and backs away immediately, turning tail to find another target. Farkas laughed beside her, and Cry glanced over at him in question. He shook his head. "You scared it off."

Cry butted against his shoulder with her head and spun around in a circle before lying down beside him. She rests her head across his lap, panting. "Cry, you don't need to stay with me," Farkas insisted. "I'm okay."

She refused to leave him alone, however, and so she didn't move. He sighed, but didn't argue further. A third wolf came towards them, but Cry merely bared her teeth in warning, and it retreated to find an easier target. Cry snorted and turned her eyes to Farkas, who raised an eyebrow.

"What're you still doing here? Go kill things."

Cry huffed in response. Farkas let out a breath, and she wagged her tail. She did want to fight, but she wanted to make sure he stayed safe as well. Just then, however, a sorrowful yowl broke out across the clearing. Cry lifted her head and spotted a werewolf crouched above another, bigger werewolf.

She glanced up at Farkas, who had gone pale. "It's Aela."

_And Skjor_. Cry could smell them both from her spot beside Farkas. She glanced at him, blinking.

Her friend nodded. "Go, quick, before she does something she'll regret later," he told her. "I'll be okay."

Cry stood up, nudged his greatsword closer to him with her nose, and then dashed across the clearing to where Aela was. Skjor's neck had been cut wide open, and werewolf-Aela was staring down at him blankly. Cry presses against her side comfortingly. Aela didn't look at her, but instead changed down into her normal form.

Cry watched as tears slowly fell from the huntress's eyes. She'd never seen Aela cry. She just… Didn't. Cry whimpered and nudged her arm gently. Aela glanced at her briefly, but her amber eyes returned to Skjor's body immediately. Cry let out a breath and licked Aela's hand before turning to look at Farkas.

All she saw was a pile of black fur.

Snarling, she sprinted towards where she had left her friend, but an arrow somehow found its way into the wolf before she could even reach it. Cry skidded to a stop and saw Aela standing up, still next to Skjor, but with a bow in her hand. At that time, Cry didn't really care how she'd gotten it, or where she'd gotten her armor, either.

Instead, she turned back towards Farkas and hurried over to him. Grabbing the wolf by the scruff, she dragged it off of her friend and tossed it away, eyes shifting back to Farkas. She let out a whimper when she looked at him. There were several teeth marks in his neck, and, unfortunately, they were bleeding rather heavily. Her friend lifted his hand and touched his neck, pulled his fingers away, let out a "Huh," and dropped his hand back to the ground.

Cry raced over to him and nudged his hand with her nose. Farkas's eyes turned to meet hers, but they were empty. He wasn't seeing her. Cry raised her head and let out a sorrowful howl. Aela ran over and pushed her own hand against the bleeding bites.

"Stay with us, Farkas," the huntress growled. "I'm not going to let you die, too."

Cry shifted into a human, not caring that she was naked. She reached under Farkas's breastplate and ripped a piece of tunic off, handing it to Aela. She took it and pressed it too his neck. Blood darkened the fabric instantly, but Cry had another prepared.

"You need to cauterize the wound," Aela told her, her eyes not leaving Farkas.

Cry blinked. "How am I supposed to do that?"

"Damn it, Cry!" Aela exclaimed. "You're the one with magic fire breath, not me. Figure it out!"

The Dragonborn let out a slow breath, trying to clear her mind. How could she do this? She needed to think of a way soon, before Farkas bled to death. An idea dawned on her. She glanced down at her friend. His chest was begin to move very slowly, his breathing becoming extremely shadow.

"Ysgramor save him," she said quietly. She picked up a stone lying on the ground and lifted it to her mouth. "_Yol." _ She whispered it, so quietly she almost didn't hear herself say it. All the same, the rock glowed fiery hot, and she blew against it gently to cool it down a bit before she moved Aela's hands out of the way and pressed it against Farkas's neck.

The Companion howled at the pain, but went silent almost instantly. Cry moved the rock across all of the open parts on his skin, until they were all closed up. All that remained of the bite marks were dark pink scars and blood that was slowly beginning to dry. Cry focused on his chest, and saw it return to moving up and down at a normal rate. She sent a quiet prayer to Ysgramor and pressed her lips to Farkas's forehead.

Aela sighed and leaned back, her own hands bloody. "Thank the Gods," she said. Cry straightened up and stood, brushing off her backside before turning to look around the clearing.

The ghost Companions very clearly outnumbered the wolves by now. Many piles of fur littered the battle grounds, blood turning the already red grass an even darker shade. But the Companions hadn't gone without deaths, either. Piles of ghostly dust paired with the dead wolves, and a lot more wolves were beginning to push their ways through the tree line.

A few dared to approach them, and she shrank back down into a wolf to fight. She jumped towards one and managed to give him a deadly bite to the neck before she was pulled off of him by her tail. Squealing, she rolled forward, away from the wolf behind her and into a third that was before her. They rolled away from the second wolf several feet, and Cry jumped back, rearing up on her hind paws.

The third wolf stood as well, and lunged forward. Cry leaned backwards far enough to avoid the claws, and dove downwards hard. Her paws hit the wolf on the head and pushed him into the ground. She heard something crack as it made contact with the ground, but she didn't have time to see if it was a death blow before another wolf rammed into her side, bowling her over.

She heard a loud snarl from somewhere nearby, but she couldn't tell where it was coming from. Several wolves were on top of her, all digging their teeth and claws into different places. Cry wriggled helplessly beneath him, but she could do nothing.

That was, she couldn't do anything until she heard Farkas groan. That sent a rage through her that she couldn't hold in. With strength that didn't belong to a wolf, nor a human, but more too a dragon, she stood up through the throng of wolves on top of her. Several sailed off of her with the force, and more backed away in fear.

Once she was on her feet, Cry dug her claws into the ground and glared around her. An arc of wolves of many earthly colors as ascending on her. When she was surrounded like this as a human, she would usually let out a shout that would send them all flying, but because she was a wolf, she didn't exactly have that option.

However, she felt something burning inside of her, and in her head, she heard the dragon let out a loud roar that mixed with the continuous howling of the wolf. That sound brought the burning forth, through her throat and out her mouth in a howl that sent the whole arc of wolves sprinting away with their fur on fire, yelping.

Cry watched them run off, surprise overtaking her. _What in Oblivion just happened? _

Aela was watching this, an arrow drawn back in her bow. She lowered it, however, as all of the wolves darted off. "How'd you do that?" she asked, her eyes wide.

In response, Cry merely wagged her tail and turned back into a human and went to Farkas. He was fine, and a wolf with several arrows imbedded into its side lay next to him. Cry let out a breath and turned, looking around, trying to spot the one wolf she knew would be fighting for the Companions. Her heart stopped when she realized she couldn't see him, and she looked down at Aela. "Where's Vilkas?"

* * *

**Well, Cry, he's attempting to kill Hircine so the Daedra doesn't come capture you again. **

**Obviously.**

**2 more chapters, folks. **

**Onward, into the jaws of not having anything to upload once this is done!**


	23. Chapter 23

**Here we go. **

**Close to the end.**

**No where to run.**

**Just forward.**

* * *

Vilkas pinned the Daedra in wolf form to the ground, growling deeply in his throat. The wolf beneath him let out a smelly breath in his face, and transformed into a human instead.

"It seems you've bested me," Hircine sighed. "How unfortunate."

Vilkas bared his teeth at the masked man, and Hircine rolled his eyes. "Go ahead and kill me if you must. Not that you will be able too."

His words were drowned out by a sudden howl coming from somewhere in the forest. Vilkas recognized it as Cry's and heard the sadness that filled it. His ears flattened against his head at the sound and he jumped away from Hircine. Something was very wrong.

Before he could go and figure out what it was, Vilkas was being crushed against the ground by a heavy force. Hircine was on top of him, in the form of a sabre cat. His long fangs reached very close to Vilkas's neck, but the Companion managed to drag himself out from underneath the Daedra, digging his way forward with his claws. He stood up as quickly as he could, shaking himself out before whipping around to face Hircine.

"What's the matter, Vilkas?" the Daedra teased, his voice a deadly purr. "Cat got your tongue?"

Vilkas managed a snarl and lunged towards him, teeth snapping. The big cat jumped out of his reach nimbly, claws unsheathing. They dug into the grass and pulled up several tuffs as he glared at Vilkas through narrowed gray eyes. "What do you say we fight man to man?" he suggested.

In response, Vilkas bowled him backwards, teeth digging deeply into his throat. Hircine gurgled, eyes blazing with fire, and he swung a large paw, catching Vilkas in the side. The Companion let out a cry of pain and backed off of the cat, aware of the four claw marks in his side. He turned his head to look at the wound and licked at it briefly before looking at Hircine again.

The cat was nursing his own wound, a deep bite in his neck. He licked a paw and pressed it against the bite, turning into a human again as he did so. The wound didn't look as bad on the masked man, but Vilkas could tell it wasn't painless. Hircine snorted and glanced at him. "Man to man?"

Vilkas changed into his own human form, a hand against his side immediately. He drew away his fingers and found them bloody. Putting his hand back against his side, he winced. "More like man to Daedra. What I don't understand is why you don't just kill me. I know you can."

Hircine lifted one shoulder. "Perhaps I don't want to kill you. If I kill you, Cry will never change her mind in helping me. I _need_ her in order to win this war. If she's mine, none of the other Daedric Princes can lay claim to her."

"But she's _mine_," Vilkas growled angrily.

Hircine raised an eyebrow, slicing his hand open with a fingernail. "Possessive, aren't we?' he asked allowing some of his blood to drip onto the bite. It closed up almost instantly, and he licked his hand to close up that wound as well.

Vilkas wrinkled his nose and grunted as his own beast blood healed the wound on his side. Hircine watched him lower his hand. "It's nice, isn't it? Having your wounds heal almost instantly?"

"It's not worth having only the thought of killing going through your mind every hour of the day," Vilkas grumbled in response.

"It seems that's all you think about anyway," Hircine commented. He held out his arms. "You were just trying to kill me, weren't you?"

"You deserve to die, Daedra," spat Vilkas. He took a step towards him. "For everything you've done."

"Everything I've done?" Hircine laughed dryly. "All I've ever wanted was to give hunters a power they couldn't refuse. To give them the strength of an animal that could outrun and out-kill anything it went up again. Is it really my fault that my gift gets in the way of your pretty Sovngarde?"

"You're power hungry," Vilkas insisted.

Hircine rolled his eyes. "Of course I am! I'm a god, Vilkas. It's what gods are known for."

"It's disgusting," the Companion managed. His eyes locked onto the woods behind Hircine, and he saw a shape move within the trees. Unsure if it was friend or foe, he clenched his fists and glared at Hircine once more. "It's time to end this, Hircine."

Before the Daedra could respond, another howl filled the air, and a wave of heat rushed towards them through the trees. Hircine sucked in his breath as the heat washed over them both, and he leaned his head back. "The wolf and the dragon combined," he murmured to himself.

Vilkas saw more movement, and he forced himself to look back at the Daedra. "You're not going to get her," he told Hircine. "She wouldn't help you."

"She won't help me unless I have something that would persuade her otherwise," responded the Daedric Prince. He didn't look at Vilkas.

The Companion stiffened at the words. "You're not getting me, either. I'd kill you three times before I let you put me in a cage."

Hircine threw back his head and laughed. "Vilkas, I sometimes wonder if you're truly as smart as you believe. Enlighten me, how exactly do you plan on killing a Daedra?"

"He's not," someone said. Hircine slowly turned, and Vilkas grinned as Kodlak stepped from the trees, warhammer up. He shrugged once. "But I'm sure Cry is."

Before Hircine could say anything more, Kodlak raised his hammer above his head. "Wait!" the Daedra whimpered, holding up his hands. "We can make this work, I know we can. You give me the Dragonborn, and I'll forgive you for raising your weapons against me. I'll release your Companions from the Hunting Ground, I'll take the beastblood out of anyone in Tamriel! Just, please don't kill me."

"Well now, I thought Daedra couldn't die. You're begging for your life, and yet I can't take it from you," Kodlak mused. He looked over his shoulder. "What do you think about that, Tenla?"

The Redguard appeared through the trees, her hands behind her back. "Rather impressive, Kodlak. I salute you."

Hircine tensed before Vilkas, whose own blood was growing icy from what he could smell. "What do you have behind your back?" the Daedra squeaked.

"Just this," Tenla replied, and then another Companion burst through the trees, latching a silver collar around the Daedra's neck. Hircine howled at the pain, and shrank to the ground, grabbing at the collar, which was sending up smoke tendrils from his skin. Vilkas took a step back as Hircine rolled onto his stomach and clawed at the air, gasping and gurgling.

Tenla was laughing, and even Kodlak was grinning. He put his warhammer on his back and crossed his arms, waiting. Hircine stopped writhing about after a minute, and lay on the ground, face contorted in pain. Kodlak stepped closer to him and rolled him over onto his back with a booted foot.

"What should we do with him?" he asked everyone else that was in the clearing.

"I have a few ideas," Tenla responded, wiping her eyes. "First and foremost, I think we need to have him cure Vilkas, and Cry, and Aela if she wants it."

Hircine tried to say something, but Kodlak gave him a sharp kick in the throat, which silenced him immediately. "After that," Tenla went on when the Daedra was quiet again, "maybe we should take him to one of the other Daedric Princes and see what they would like to do with the God of the Hunt."

"Maybe they'll have him hunt himself," commented the third Companion who had jumped in with the silver collar.

"Or perhaps he'll be the one hunted instead," Kodlak corrected. He glanced over a Vilkas. "You best hurry to the clearing, my boy," he told him.

Vilkas's brow furrowed. "What's happened?"

(*)

Cry heard Vilkas before she saw him, and turned to see her husband burst out of the trees, his face flooded with worry. He ran over to where she was still standing beside Farkas, completely naked, and scooped her up in a hug. "I thought you were dead!" he exclaimed, setting her back down.

She shook her head and gestured to Farkas, who was lying on the ground. "He had a bit of a problem, but Aela and I took care of it." She grinned at him. "Forget you were missing your clothes, love?"

Vilkas glanced down at himself, and his cheeks grew very red. Slowly, he covered his valuables and shrugged. "Maybe I did."

Cry laughed and crouched beside Farkas once more. Vilkas joined her, and he touched his brother's cheek. Farkas stirred and blinked open one eye, saw they were both naked, and squeezed it shut again. "What kind of nightmare am I having?" he muttered to himself.

This earned a laugh from Vilkas, and Cry glanced at him. "What's happened with Hircine?"

Before Vilkas could tell her, Kodlak and Tenla appeared, carrying a beaten down Hircine between them. Together, they tossed him into a cell that was barely larger than he was. Kodlak kicked closed the door and put a padlock on it before pointing towards Vilkas and herself. "Cure them."

"Suck my manhood, Kodlak Whitemane," the Daedra croaked.

"I wouldn't even if you had one, Daedra," Kodlak told him. He kicked the cage. "Do it."

Weakly, Hircine raised his hand and waved it. A sudden light burst apart from Vilkas and Cry both, causing them to stumble. Two giant wolves stood before them, but before they had a chance to attack, a few ghost Companions appeared to kill them. As they took off fighting, Aela appeared with two sets of robes and handed one to each of them.

"Thank you, Aela," Cry said. The huntress merely bowed her head and retreated to stand beside Skjor's dead body. Vilkas saw it and his shoulders slumped.

"Still a wolf even in his second death," he sighed.

Kodlak was motioning to the cage with a hand. Four Companions approached and lifted it. "Take him to my tent, and make sure he gets a few silver chains strapped around his arms and legs," the old Harbinger ordered. "I'll come to see him in a moment."

"You'll be mine one day, Cry Silverworthy!" Hircine called to her as loudly as he could. "I will have your dragon, and it'll be serving me!"

Cry ignored him entirely, and soon he was out of earshot. Kodlak approached her and Vilkas with a smile. She grinned at him herself and bowed. "Thank you, Harbinger. For everything."

"No, Cry," Kodlak corrected. "Thank you for understanding which side was the right side. I know how power can make a person feel, but you remained clearheaded throughout all of this. Stay strong, Shield-Sister."

With a nod to Vilkas, Kodlak turned and strolled back over to Tenla, who dipped her head to them both and followed Kodlak away from the clearing. Once they were gone, it was only the four Companions left. Aela bent down and touched Skjor's fur once more before standing and walking over to them again.

"Are you okay?" Cry asked her. Aela nodded.

"We'd had our goodbyes already."

Cry bowed her head in acceptance and glanced at Vilkas. Her husband was looking at her already, and he grinned at her slightly. "Y'know, we just won the war," he told her.

"Damn right we won!" she agreed with a chuckle. Not waiting for another word, she grabbed the front of his robe and gave him a deep kiss. It was meant to be a joking kiss, and not one that was supposed to be taken further, but Gods be good, it was nice to kiss him again.

Vilkas's arms wrapped around her and pulled her closer to him, and she let go of the robe, her hands latching around his neck. It was the first kiss they had ever shared as two humans, and, if she wasn't mistaken, it was even better than when they had been two wolves.

They only broke apart when Aela cleared her throat, and Cry pulled back. They both glanced over towards Aela to see her gesturing to Farkas, who had lifted his head and was blinking at them through blurry gray eyes. "Did I kill 'em all?" the Companion asked, his voice thick, almost like he was drunk.

All three of the other Circle members laughed, and Cry nodded. "Yes, Farkas, you killed all of 'em."

"Good," Farkas mumbled, and his head fell back against the ground, eyes closing. His body disappeared from the clearing, and Cry knew he would be waking up back in Jorrvaskr.

"We best return, too," she said to the others. Aela nodded and backed away from them, closing her own eyes. She drifted off as well, leaving Vilkas and Cry alone. Cry lifted her eyes to his, and he blinked at her. "On the count of three?" she asked.

"Sure," he agreed.

"One."

"Two."

"Three."

They woke up to the sound of Farkas hollering for a bottle of mead.

* * *

**Last chapter comes on Monday. **

**Hoping for the best.**

**Probably not gonna be the best. **

***shrug* It's good whatever it is.**


	24. Chapter 24

**Yeah it's the fucking ending whoo.**

**Let's just get right into it.**

* * *

Cry crossed the mead hall slowly, taking it all in. She'd been stuck in the Hunting Ground for almost a week, Farkas had told her. She hadn't realized it had been that long, since there was no day or night in the forest.

"Harbinger!" She heard Torvar, and glanced over at him. The Nord was sitting on one of the benches, and he waved his hand at her. She walked over to him, and Torvar said, "When are we going to go to the Bannered Mare again? I like drinking with everybody there, because then I have someone to carry me home."

Cry smiled. "I'm sure we can head down there soon enough, T. We just have to resituate ourselves after all the chaos we've been having."

"I get it," Torvar agreed. "But we will go soon?"

"Of course," Cry replied. She turned and walked towards the big table, spotting Farkas and Vilkas sitting together near the end opposite from where she was standing. Normally, she would head over to sit with them, but she saw Aela sitting alone at one of the smaller tables in the corner. She went over to her and sat down in the empty chair, grabbing a bottle of mead along the way.

Aela glanced at her as she sat down, but didn't say anything. Instead, she took a long drink from the tankard she was gripping in one hand. Cry leaned back against her chair, waiting. She knew Aela would talk eventually, if she didn't leave the table first.

After several minutes, Aela let out a breath and turned to her. "Harbinger," she began, but Cry gave her a look, and the huntress's shoulders slumped. "Cry, I'm troubled."

"Yes, I can see that," Cry responded. "And I'm assuming it's a problem you can't fix?"

"No," Aela sighed. She bowed her head over her tankard. "It's about Skjor."

Cry closed her eyes and leaned her head back. "You wish he had come back with us." She opened one eye and saw Aela nod. Cry let out a short laugh. "Aela, I know you don't want to hear this, but Skjor is dead. He died six months ago."

"He wasn't dead in the Hunting Ground!" Aela snapped. Cry merely looked at her, and she turned away. "I'm sorry. I just thought… Maybe since he was still there in a sense… He would be able to wake up, too."

"Skjor wouldn't have been able to wake up even if he hadn't been killed in the battle," Cry told her. "His body wasn't his anymore. He was just a ghost, who was unfortunately trapped in the Hunting Ground."

Aela closed her eyes and took another drink. When she had finished all her ale, she set the tankard down on the table rested her elbows on her knees. Resting her chin in her hand, she glanced at Cry. "Where do you think he went?"

Cry didn't have an answer for her. Aela understood this and stood up, heading towards the living quarters with sagging shoulders. Cry watched her go with a sigh. Aela didn't have any way to cope with losing Skjor a second time. The first time, she had been able to focus all her emotions and pain into killing the Silver Hand. This time, there was no way to gain retribution.

Cry was about to stand when Farkas plopped down in Aela's vacant chair. He glanced sideways at her. "Problem?"

Cry lifted her shoulders in a shrug and took a swig of mead straight from the bottle. "Nothing that we can fix. What's going on?"

"Earlier this week, remember when you called me down to the living quarters to ask me if I had seen Vilkas?" Cry nodded, and Farkas went on. "Well, before that, I was in the training yard, and someone came over to talk to me about joining the Companions."

Cry raised her eyebrow. "Really?" Farkas nodded. "What happened to them?"

"I don't know," Farkas replied. "She said she had business to take care of in Whiterun."

"What did she look like?" Cry asked. "Perhaps she's still here."

Farkas thought about it for a moment. "Well, she was red-haired, and had pretty gray eyes." He glanced at her. "She looked a little like you, but not really. The same nose, I think."

Cry's heart had started to slow. "Did she say what her name was?" she managed after a moment.

Farkas shook his head. "No, she didn't actually." He narrowed his eyes. "What's the matter with you? You look a little green."

Cry took a slow breath and swallowed. "Nothing. I'm okay."

"No, you're not," Farkas said. He poked her shoulder. "What's wrong?"

Before Cry could answer, Vignar Gray-Mane entered Jorrvaskr, his eyebrows furrowed. He glanced around and spotted Cry sitting at the table. He walked over to her and passed her the parchment he was holding. Cry took it and read the words slowly, and then reread them. When she had gone over the letter twice, she lifted her eyes to Vignar.

"The Stormcloaks are marching on Whiterun?"

"That's what it says," Vignar replied. "Apparently, Balgruuf returned Ulfric's axe."

"Hey!" Farkas broke in. "That girl I was telling you about, she had an axe!" His brow furrowed. "She did look towards Dragonsreach when we were talking. Do you think she was Ulfric's messenger?"

"It's too much of a coincidence for her to not have been," agreed Vignar. He took the paper from Cry and folded it over. "It's time, Harbinger."

"Time?" Cry asked, not really listening.

"Time to decide whether the Companions will fight or not," Vignar told her. "You know that I don't agree with the leadership of the Empire. They need to get out of Skyrim, for good. Ulfric is the true High King."

"And you know that Kodlak never wanted to join in the war," Farkas reminded him before Cry could speak. "He said that we should just let the two sides fight it out, that it wouldn't affect the Companions."

Cry let out a breath. She understood where Kodlak had been coming from. The Companions didn't need to fight the war, because it wasn't theirs to fight. However, that was Kodlak. She wasn't Kodlak.

She glanced up at Vignar. "I'm sorry, Vignar, but this war is not the Companions' to fight." The old man nodded solemnly in understanding. Cry stood up, however, and grinned. "However, I'll fight. For the right side."

"Cry!" Farkas exclaimed.

"The Companions won't fight if they chose not to," she told her friend, "but I have a reason for fighting with the Stormcloaks. I'm not going to let them come marching into Whiterun with no possibility of winning."

"Cry!" Farkas grabbed her wrist as she stood up. "You're going to fight on the Stormcloaks' side, after everything Jarl Balgruuf has done for you?"

Cry pulled her arm from his grasp. "Farkas, my sister is fighting for the Stormcloaks. I can't just let the Empire run her and her brothers down into the ground. I have to help her."

"You have a sister?" Farkas asked, forgetting all about her fighting for the Stormcloaks. "What's her name?"

"Faisly," Cry replied. "Her name is Faisly."

(*)

Farkas slide into a chair in Cry's quarters, letting out a breath as he did so. There was no reason for him to be there, mainly because his Harbinger was outside fighting a war she didn't belong in. However, he felt like he was closer to her if he was in her rooms.

He knew very well that he could be up there fighting along with her. Even as he sat there, he could hear the war shouts of the two armies as their swords clashed and shields banged against one another. He shrank down lower in his chair and steepled his fingers beneath his chin. He could have been up there, but she'd refused him.

"I don't want you fighting while you're neck is still freshly wounded," she'd told him. She was always fussing over wounds that didn't even hurt.

So he'd submissively dragged himself down to the living quarters to sit out the fight as Vilkas and the rest of the Companions all fought against the Imperials that Jarl Balgruuf had brought into the city. He was alone in Jorrvaskr aside from Tilma, who was tittering around in the mead hall like she usually did.

Aela had disappeared before the Stormcloaks had shown up, and no one had any notion as too where she could be. However, the last Glenmoril witch head had disappeared along with the huntress, so everyone had a pretty good idea as too what she was doing. At least, the Circle did.

As for the whelps… Well, they weren't whelps anymore, Farkas reflected. Cry had made them all true Companions after they had finished fighting the war against Hircine and the werewolves. They all still had to sleep in their shared bedroom because of lack of space, but Vignar had said that once he became the Jarl of Whiterun, his bedroom would be vacant.

Cry had the notion of giving it to Njada, for keeping the Companions under control while they were all at Ysgramor's Tomb.

Farkas sighed and stood up again, shuffling towards Cry's bedroom she shared with Vilkas. He collapsed onto the bed, the mattress sinking under his weight as he did so. There was no denying that he was bored. He'd tried to read some of Vilkas's books, but they didn't give him any interest. He didn't understand how Vilkas could read something with no pictures.

A book like the ones Vilkas read was resting on a side table. Farkas reached for it and opened it. Boring words looked back up at him, bland and black against the parchment.

Farkas muttered under his breath and turned the pages a few times, looking for pictures. He didn't find any, and so he snapped the book shut and set it back down on the table beside the bed. He rolled off of it onto the floor and lay on the ground, his eyes in the direction of the underside of the bed. He spotted a dark lump in the shadows, and his brow furrowed.

Cautiously, he reached out and grabbed it, pulling it towards him. He sat up and pulled a dusty box into his lap. An eyebrow lifted as he tugged the lid off of the box. Inside there was only a pile of letters and what appeared to be a piece of fabric. Slowly, he reached into the box and pulled out the pile of letters.

He was about to open one when he realized that he was snooping. If Cry or Vilkas found out, they would have his head. Not literally, but… The other word. The word that means he's saying it, but he doesn't mean it.

His fingers trembled as he held the letters in his hand. If he opened the letter, he might learn why Cry didn't tell them she had a sister, or that Vilkas was secretly a scholar for the Imperials. But if he put them back in the box, he would eventually forget about it, like he did everything.

Farkas swallowed and gingerly replaced the letters, and then the lid. He slid the box back under the bed and stood up, heading towards the doors.

Cry had her reasons for not telling them. He trusted her to explain when she felt the time was appropriate. He was patient, unlike his brother. He could wait.

It didn't seem like he was going to have to wait long, because as soon as he left the Harbinger's quarters, he saw Cry and Vilkas coming down the hall. Cry grinned as soon as she spotted him, and she held out her arms. "The Stormcloaks won!"

"Hurray," replied Farkas.

Cry noticed he didn't sound very enthusiastic. She cocked her head at him. "Farkas…"

"Yeah, yeah. I know. You were just doing it to make sure I didn't hurt myself. Whatever." The burly Companion shuffles down the hall towards her and pauses in front of the Harbinger and her husband.

Vilkas let out a breath. "I'm sorry you didn't get to fight, Farkas, but it was a blood bath out there."

"So?" Farkas shook his head. "I've been in blood baths before, with worse injuries than a neck bite that's already healed." He rounds on Cry. "Why didn't you keep Vilkas here?"

"He wouldn't have stayed even if I had told him too," Cry answered.

Vilkas shrugged, and Farkas let out a breath. He looked at Cry, eyes narrowed. "Why didn't you tell us you had a sister?"

The Dragonborn stiffened immediately, and she turned away to avoid his gaze. "Reasons that you don't need to know." She shouldered by him and starts towards her bedroom. Vilkas lingered back with Farkas, watching her go.

"I want to know, too," he said after a second. Cry stopped walking, and Vilkas went on, "Those letters you hide under the bed are from her, aren't they?"

Cry's shoulders drooped and she turned to look at them. Farkas saw guilt in her eyes, even from the distance they were standing apart. "I should have told you before. I know that now. But I can't go back and fix it. It's the same thing with me being the Dragonborn and not telling anyone. I did it because I didn't want people to know."

"Why?" asked Farkas. "Were you… embarrassed because Faisly was on the Stormcloaks? Cause, if you were, I don't think you would have just fought in a battle with her."

"No, Farkas," responded Cry. "That's not even close to the reason."

"Then what _is_ the reason?" Farkas studied his friend, trying to get into her head and find out what she was thinking. For once since he'd gotten close to her, he couldn't. It was like she was someone else.

Cry looked from Vilkas to Farkas, and back again, before turning her gaze to the floor. "I'm not… Who you guys think I am," she murmured at last.

Vilkas and Farkas exchanged a glance before Vilkas turned to his wife. "What are you talking about?"

Cry let out a breath and lifted her eyes to them both. "My real name is Crystin Honey-Runner," she said, "but that's not who I am anymore."

* * *

**Oh shit it's a fucking cliffhanger ohmygod.**

**Why did you do that, me?**

**I don't know, me. I felt it.**

**Aw well.**

**Have a good day everybody.**

**Yay!**


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